CONTENTS. 


I.  EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION.    EXPULSION  FROM  OXFORD 
AND   FROM    1113   FATHER'S   HOUSE.     LlFE   ON   THE  CONTINENT. 
LIFE  IN  IRELAND  WITH  THE  DUKE  OF  ORMOND,  AND  IN  CARE 
OF    ins    FATHER'S    ESTATES.      PREACHING    OF    THOMAS    LOE. 
FIRST  IMPRISONMENT.     SECOND  EXILE  FROM  HOME.    .        .      7 

II.  "THE    GUIDE    MISTAKEN."     PUBLIC    EELIGIOUS    Discus- 
>stox  WITH  T.  VINCENT.     "THE  SANDY  FOUNDATION  SHAKEN." 
IMPRISONMENT  IN  THE  TOWER.     "  INNOCENCY  WITH  HER  OPEN 
FACE." 22 

III.  "No  CROSS,  No  CROWN." 44 

1  V  .  ARREST  FOR  PREACHING.  TRIAL  AT  THE  OLD  BAILEY. 
COMMITMENT,  WITH  THE  JURY,  TO  NEWGATE.  DEATH  OF  AD 
MIRAL  PENN .80 

V  .     ARREST  AND  TRIAL  FOB  PREACHING  BY  THE  LIEUTENANT 

OF   THE   TOWER   AND    IMPRISONMENT  IN   NEWGATE.          .  .      99 

V  I.  "  THE  GREAT  CASE  OF  LIBERTY  OF  CONSCIENCE  DE 
BATED."  EEPLY  TO  "  QUAKERISM  ANATOMIZE])."  .  105 

iii 


IV  CONTENTS. 

VII.  MARRIAGE.    PUBLIC  RELIGIOUS  CONTROVERSY  wrm  T, 
HICKS  AND  J.  IVES.     CONTROVERSY  WITH  J.  PEROT  AND  FOL 
LOWERS.    VISIT  TO   COURT  ON  ACCOUNT   OF  IMPRISONMENT  OF 
GEORGE  Fox.     "ENGLAND'S  PRESENT  INTEREST  CONSIDERED." 
LETTER  TO  THE  PRINCESS  PALATINE  OF  THE  HIIINE.  .        .111 

VIII.  JOURNAL    OF    TRAVELS    IN    HOLLAND    AND    GER 
MANY 141 

IX.  "ADDRESS  TO  PROTESTANTS."     "ONE  PROJECT  FOR  THE 
GOOD  OF  ENGLAND." 200 

X.  ARBITRATION  BETWEEN  FENWICK  AND  P>YLLINGE.     TRUS 
TEESHIP  FOR  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  WEST  X.EW  JERSEY.       .  214 

XI.  "EXAMINATION  OF  LIBERTY  SPIRITUAL."  . 


XII.  GRANT  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  FROM  CHARLES  II.    CONDI 
TIONS    OR    CONCESSIONS    TO    SETTLERS.     FIRST    SETTLEMENT,-. 
LETTER  TO  THE  INDIANS.     CONSTITUTION  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,  2o.'j 

XIII.  LETTER  TO  HIS  WIFE  AND  CHILDREN.    ARRIVAL  is 
PENNSYLVANIA,  1682.     FIRST  ASSEMBLY  AND   CODE   OF  LAWS. 
FOUNDING  OF  PHILADELPHIA.    TREATY'  WITH  THE  INDIANS  AT 
SHACKAMAXON.          ....        c        ....  2-V> 

XIV.  DESCRIPTIVE  LETTER  TO  THE  FREE  SOCIETY  OF  TRA 
DERS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.     LETTER  FROM  STEPHEN  CRISP.    FARE 
WELL  LETTERS  TO  FRIENDS  OF  '  PENNSYLVANIA.  ,  .  282 


CONTENTS.  V 

XV.  ARRIVAL  IN  ENGLAND,  1G84.    VISIT  TO  THE  KING  AND 
DUKE  OF  YORK.    LETTER  INFORMING  OF  DEATH  OF  CHARLES 
II.      CORRESPONDENCE    WITH     DR.     TILLOTSON,     AFTERWARDS 
ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY.          ......  299 

XVI.  "A   PERSUASIVE   TO    MODERATION."      VISIT   TO   THE 
PRINCE    OF    ORANGE.      LETTER    OF    COMMISSION    TO    THOMAS 
LLOYD  AND  OTHERS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA.          .        .        .        .315 

XVII.  DECLARATION  OF  INDULGENCE  BY  KING  JAMES.    IM 
PRISONMENT    OF    THE    Six    BISHOPS.     POPULAR    DISTRUST    OF 
WILLIAM   PENN   AND    CORRESPONDENCE  WITH   SECRETARY  OF 
BOARD  OF  TRADE  AND    PLANTATIONS.     WILLIAM,  PRINCE  OF 
ORANGE,  MADE  KING.     ARREST  OF  WILLIAM  PENN.     .        .  329 

X\  III.      APPOINTMENT    OF    GOVERNOR    BLACKWELL    AND 
LETTERS  TO  THE  PROVINCIAL  COUNCIL.          ....  354 

XIX.  SECOND    ARREST   ON   SUSPICION    OF  FAVORING    KING 
JAMES.    LETTERS  TO  HIS  FRIENDS  IN  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA 
ON  THE  SUBJECT  ......     •  .        .        .        .  359 

XX.  "A  KEY    OPENING    THE  WAY    TO    DISTINGUISH    THE 
RELIGION  PROFESSED  BY  THE  PEOPLE  CALLED  QUAKERS."    "  AN 
ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PEACE  OF  EUROPE."    ....  308 


-X.XI.     "TiiE  RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  PEOPLE  CALLED 
QUAKERS."          ..........  389 

XXII.      ACCOUNT    OF    HIS    SON    SPRINGETT.      "PRIMITIVE 
CHRISTIANITY  REVIVED."     LETTER    TO    THE    CZAR    OF    MUS 
COVY  .............  419 

1* 


VI  CON  T  E  N  T  S  . 

XXIII.  "ADVICE  TO  ins  CHILDREN."      ....  439 

XXIV.  DISAGREEMENTS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA  AND  SEPARATION 
or  THE  PROVINCE   AND    TERRITORIES.     GOVERNMENT    TAKEN 

BY     THE     CROWN    AND     RESTORED.        SAILS     FOR    PENNSYLVANIA, 

1699.  451 

XXV.  ARRIVAL  AT  PHILADELPHIA.     DIFFERENCES  IN  THE 
PROVINCIAL  COUNCIL.    PROPOSITION   IN   PARLIAMENT    TO    AS 
SUME  THE  GOVERNMENT.     SAILS  FO'R  ENGLAND,  1701.         .  403 

XXVI.  CORRESPONDENCE    WITH     JAMES    LOGAN    ABOUT 
COLONIAL  AFFAIRS  AND  WILLIAM  PEXN   JR.       .        .        .  47S 

XX  VII.  IMPOSITIONS  OF  HIS  STEWARD,  PHILIP  FORD.  LET 
TER  OF  REMONSTRANCE  TO  THE  PROVINCIAL  ASSEMBLY.  SALE 
OF  THE  PROVINCE  TO  THE  CROWN.  FAILURE  OF  HEALTH  AND 
DEATH.  .  493 


PASSAGES 

FROM   THE 


Life  and  Writings  of  William  Penn. 


I. 

WILLIAM  PENN"  was  honorably  descended ;  his 
paternal  ancestors,  for  several  generations,  having 
been  persons  of  high  respectability  and  considerable  note 
in  the  world.  His  grandfather,  Giles  Penn,  was  a  captain 
in  the  English  navy.  His  father,  Sir  William  Penn,  at 
an  early  age,  became  a  distinguished  naval  officer,  and 
passed  rapidly  through  the  successive  grades  of  promotion, 
so  that  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  he  was  created  Yice 
Admiral.  He  was  a  man  of  good  understanding  and  a 
thoughtful  turn  of  mind;  amiable  in  natural  disposition, 
but  accustomed  to  the  exercise  of  absolute  authority ;  and 
honorable,  but  ambitious  of  distinction  and  wealth. 
!  /  William  Penn  was  born  in  London  on  the  14th  of  the 

j    I 

Eighth  month,  (now  the  Tenth,)  A.  D.  1644.  Of  his  very 
early  years  but  little  is  known.  Being  the  heir  to  a  con 
siderable  estate,  and  a  youth  of  promising  abilities,  his 
father  appears  to  have  spared  no  expense  to  confer  upon 

7 


8  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

him  the  best  education  which  the  country  could  afford.  He 
received  the  rudiments  of  learning-  at  Chigwell  school, 
which  w^as  near  Wanstead,  in  Essex,  then  the  country  resi 
dence  of  his  father.  Although  he  left  this  place  at  the  age 
of  twelve  years,  yet  he  appears  while  there  to  have  received 
serious  religious  impressions.))  The  Lord,  who  designed 
to  make  him  an  instrument  or 'good  to  many  souls,  visited 
him  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  comforting  him  with  a  sense  of 
his  presence,  giving  him  an  assurance  of  the  reality  of 
communion  with  Him,  and  calling  him  to  a  holy  life. 

On  leaving  Wanstead,  Admiral  Penn  went  with  his 
family  to  live  on  a  large  estate  near  Cork,  in  Ireland, 
which  had  been  given  him  by  Cromwell  for  services 
rendered.  Here  his  son  pursued  his  studies  under  the 
care  of  a  tutor. 

In  an  account  which  William  Penn  is  said  to  have  given 
of  some  of  the  circumstances  of  his  early  life,  it  is  stated, 
"  That  while  he  was  but  a  child,  living  near  Cork  with  his 
father,  Thomas  Loe  came  thither.  When  it  was  rumored 
a  Quaker  was  come  from  England,  his  father  proposed  to 
some  others  to  be  like  the  noble  Bereans,  and  hear  him 
before  they  judged  him.  He  accordingly  sent  to  Thomas 
Loe  to  come  to  his  house,  where  he  had  a  meeting  in  the 
family.  Though  William  was  very  young,  he  observed 
w^hat  effect  Thomas  Loe's  preaching  had  on  the  hearers. 
A  black  servant  of  his  father's  could  not  restrain  himself 
from  weeping  aloud;  and  little  William,  looking  on  his 
father,  saw  the  tears  running  down  his  cheeks  also.  He 
then  thought  within  himself,  '  What  if  they  would  all  be 
Quakers ! '  This  opportunity  he  never  quite  forgot ;  the 
remembrance  of  it  still  recurring  at  times." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  9 

/'/'" 

When  a  little  over  fifteen  years  of  age,  William  Penn 
entered  as  "  a  gentleman  commoner  "  at  Oxford,  where  he 
remained  three  years,  distinguishing  himself  as  a  hard 
and  successful  student;  We  learn  from  himself  that  he 
was  preserved  un corrupted  in  the  midst  of  the  dissipations 
and  wickedness  which  abounded  in  the  University.  He 
took  great  delight  in  manly  sports,  and  in  the  society  of 
those  young  men  who  were  distinguished  for  talents  or 
worth,  Among  those  with  whom  he  was  intimate  were. 
Robert  Spencer,  afterwards  the  well-known  Earl  of  Sun- 
derland,  and  the  venerable  John  Locke. 

After  the  Restoration,  the  court  set  to  work  to  remodel 
the  University,  by  displacing  those  who  held  Puritanical 
opinions,  or  who  had  found  favor  during  the  Common 
wealth,  and  installing  others  friendly  to  the  re-established 
church  and  the  lax  moral  principles  then  prevailing.  Dr. 
Owen,  conspicuous  as  a  scholar  and  a  strict  religionist, 
was  ejected  to  make  room  for  a  royalist  partisan  ;  and  the 
students  became  divided  into  parties,  applauding  or  de 
nouncing  the  changes  made. 

There  is  reason  to  believe,  from  observations  made  by 
William  Penn  himself,  that  throughout  his  youth  he  was 
repeatedly  visited  by  the  Dayspring  from  on  high,  bring 
ing  him  into  serious  thoughtfulness.  While  at  college  his 
associates  appear  to  have  been  those  of  a  religious  cast  of 
character  like  himself,  who  had  probably  been  influenced 
by  the  teaching  and  advice  of  Dr.  Owen.  It  so  happened 
that  while  much  controversy  was  going  on  among  the 
scholars  relative  to  religious  opinions  and  practices, 
Thomas  Loe,  who  had  belonged  to  the  University,  and 
had  now  joined  the  Society  of  Friends,  came  to  Oxford, 


10  PASSAGES    FBOM    THE    LIFE 

and  held  several  meetings.  To  these  meetings  William 
Penn  and  his  associates  went,  and  a  deep  impression  was 
made  upon  their  minds  by  the  powerful  preaching  of  this 
devoted  servant  of  Christ.  They  declined  being  present 
at  what  were  now  the  regular  "services"  of  the  college, 
and  held  private  meetings  for  worship  and  religipus  ex 
hortation  and  prayer;  and  for  this  they  were  fined{  When 
an  order  came  down  from  Charles  the  Second  that  the 
surplice  should  be  worn,  according  to  the  custom  of  ancient 
times,  which  was  an  unusual  sight  then  at  that  University, 
they  refused  to  wear  them,  and  tore  them  off  those  they 
met.  How  far  William  Penn  was  implicated  in  this  is 
not  known ;  but  his  course  gave  great  offence,  and  he  was 
expelled  the  University  with  his  associates.  ) 

When  he  returned  home  his  father  received  him  coldly. 
Indeed,  he  could  not  be  otherwise  than  displeased  with  his 
son,  on  account  of  the  public  disgrace  which  he  had  thus 
incurred  ;  but  that  which  vexed  him  most  was  the  change 
now  observable  in  his  habits,  for  he  began  to  abandon 
what  was  called  the  fashionable  w^orld,  and  to  mix  only 
with  serious  and  religious  people.  The  Admiral  was 
fearful  that  all  the  prospects  in  life  which  he  had  formed 
for  his  son,  and  which  he  could  have  promoted  by  his 
great  connections,  would  be  done  away.  Anxious,  there 
fore,  to  recover  him,  he  had  recourse  to  persuasion  and 
argument.  This  failing,  like  one  accustomed  to  arbitrary 
power,  he  proceeded  to  blows ;  and  the  latter  failing  also, 
he  turned  him  out  of  doors. 

The  Admiral,  after  a  procedure  so  violent,  began  at 
length  to  relent.  His  wife,  an  amiable  woman,  lost  no 
opportunity  of  intercession.  Overcome,  therefore,  by  his 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  11 

own  affectionate  nature  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  her 
entreaties  on  the  other,  he  forgave  his  son.  But  he  was 
desirous  of  meeting  the  evil  for  the  future,  and  he  saw  no 
other  means  of  doing  it  than  by  sending  his  son  to  France. 
He  indulged  a  hope  that  the  change  of  scene  might  wean 
him  from  his  old  connections,  and  that  the  gayety  of 
French  manners  might  correct  the  growing  gravity  of 
his  mind.  Accordingly,  in  1662,  he  sent  him  to  that 
country  in  company  with  certain  persons  of  rank  who 
were  then  going  upon  their  travels.  The  place  where  he 
first  resided  was  Paris. 

Though  William  Penn  was  kept  pure  in  the  midst  of 
the  seductions  of  this  gay  and  licentious  metropolis,  it 
furnished  little  society  calculated  to  strengthen  his  pious 
resolutions.  He  afterwards  resided  some  time  at  Saumur, 
where  he  went  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  instruction 
from  the  celebrated  Moses  Amyrault,  a  learned  Calvinistic 
minister  and  professor  of  divinity,  who  was  then  held  in 
high  estimation.  Under  this  instructor  he  renewed  his 
studies,  read  the  ancient  fathers  as  well  as  the  modern 
works  of  theology,  and  acquired  an  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  French  language.  After  leaving  Saumur,  he  pro 
ceeded  towards  Italy,  but  when  he  arrived  at  Turin  a  let 
ter  from  his  father  reached  him,  desiring  his  return  home. 
The  Admiral  having  received  orders  to  take  command  of 
the  fleet  under  the  Duke  of  York  against  the  Dutch,  wished 
to  leave  his  family  in  the  care  of  his  son.  William  ac 
cordingly  returned  in  1664,  having  been  absent  about 
two  years.  On  his  return  his  father  perceived  not  only 
that  he  had  become  a  good  French  scholar,  but  that  he 
brought  with  him  the  air  and  bearing  of  the  courtly  life 


12  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

to  which  he  had  been  introduced  in  Paris.  His  new  asso 
ciations  had  in  some  degree  worn  off  the  seriousness  of  his 
demeanor,  so  that  his  father  supposed  that  he  had  gained 
his  point.  At  his  suggestion  he  entered  as  a  student  of 
law  at  Lincoln's  Inn.  While  there  his  father  sailed  with 
the  fleet,  and  he  accompanied  him  for  a  few  days.  His 
letter  on  landing  at  Harwich  shows  the  affectionate  re 
spect  he  had  for  his  father. 

"HONORED  FATHER: — We  could  not  arrive  here  sooner 
than  this  day,  about  twelve  of  the  clock,  by  reason  of  the 
continued  cross  winds,  and,  as  I  thought,  foul  weather.  I 
pray  God,  after  all  the  foul  weather  and  dangers  you  are 
exposed  to,  and  shall  be,  that  you  come  home  as  secure. 
And  I  bless  God  my  heart  does  not  in  any  way  fail, 
but  firmly  believe  that  if  God  has  called  you  out  to  battle, 
He  will  cover  your  head  in  that  smoky  day.  And,  as  I 
never  knew  what  a  father  was  till  I  had  wisdom  enough 
to  prize  him,  so  I  can  safely  say  that  now,  of  all  times, 
your  concerns  are  most  dear  to  me." 

The  Admiral  made  his  son  bearer  of  a  despatch  to  King 
Charles.  This  was  no  doubt  his  first  official  visit  to  White 
hall,  but  that  he  must  have  been  well  known  to  the  king 
appears  by  his  letter  to  his  father  reporting  the  delivery 
of  the  despatch.  His  letter  closes  with  these  words : 

"I  pray  God  be  with  you,  and  be  your  armor  in  the 
day  of  controversy!  May  that  power  be  your  salvation, 
for  his  name's  sake.  And  so  will  he  wish  and  pray,  that 
is  with  all  true  veneration,  honored  father,* 

"  Your  obedient  son  and  servant, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  13 

He  continued  at  Lincoln's  Inn  about  a  year,  until  the 
great  plague  which  prevailed  in  London  in  16G5  induced 
him  to  leave  the  city.  The  awful  scenes  of  death  deeply 
impressed  him.  The  Holy  Spirit  again  broke  up  his  false 
rest  and  showed  him  the  emptiness  of  worldly  grandeur 
and  honor,  and  wooed  him  to  leave  all  and  follow  Christ. 

William  Penn's  worldly  prospects  were  highly  flatter 
ing  to  the  natural  ambition  of  a  young  and  ardent  mind. 
He  possessed  a  manly  form  blooming  with  health,  a  lively 
and  active  disposition,  a  ready  wit  and  talents  improved 
by  great  literary  and  scientific  attainments,  and  many 
rich  and  powerful  friends.  These,  added  to  his  father's 
interest  at  court,  and  his  intimacy  with  the  Duke  of  York, 
presumptive  heir  to  the  crown,  as  well  as  the  solicitations 
of  numerous  friends,  strongly  inclined  him  to  embrace  the 
glory  and  pleasures  of  this  world,  which  might  be  said  to 
court  his  acceptance.  Bat  the  glory  and  joy  of  the  heav 
enly  inheritance  had  taken  possession  of  his  mind  ;  and  it 
is  evident  from  his  own  account  that  he  was  under  deep 
religious  feeling1,  and  panting  after  the  more  full  disclosure 
of  divine  Truth. 

He  had  come  from  the  continent  with  an  air  of  gayety 
and  a  show  of  polite  manners  which  the  Admiral  had 
mistaken  for  a  great  change  in  his  mind.  But  now,  in 
1GG6,  all  volatile  appearances  had  died  away.  He  had 
become  again  a  serious  person.  He  mixed  again  only 
with  grave  and  religious  people.  His  father  could  not 
but  notice  this  change.  Not  easily  to  be  vanquished,  he 
determined  a  second  time  to  endeavor  to  break  up  his 
son's  connections,  and,  to  effect  this,  he  sent  him  to  Ire- 
laud. 

2 


14:  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

One  reason  which  induced  him  to  make  choice  of  Ire 
land  for  this  purpose,  was  his  acquaintance  with  the  Duke 
of  Ormond,  who  was  then  lord-lieutenant  of  that  country, 
as  well  as  with  several  others  who  attended  his  court. 
The  duke  himself  was  a  man  of  a  graceful  appearance, 
lively  wit,  and  cheerful  temper;  and  his  court  had  the 
reputation  of  great  gayety  and  splendor.  The  Admiral 
conceived,  therefore,  if  his  son  were  properly  introduced 
among  his  friends  there,  that  he  might  even  yet  receive  a 
new  bias  and  acquire  a  new  taste.  While  there  he  joined 
the  duke's  son,  the  Earl  of  Arran,  in  an  expedition  on  which 
he  was  sent  to  put  down  a  mutiny  of  the  garrison  at 
Carrickfergus,  and  was  reported  to  have  "  acquitted  him 
self  in  that  action  to  his  no  small  reputation."  He  was 
offered,  and  seemed  inclined  to  accept,  the  command  of  the 
fort  at  Kinsale  in  his  father's  place ;  but  it  appears  from 
the  following  letter  from  his  father  that  he  did  not  fa 
vor  it  : 

"  SON  WILLIAM  : — I  have  received  two  or  three  letters 
from  you  since  I  wrote  any  to  you.  Besides  my  former 
advice  I  can  say  nothing  but  advise  to  sobriety  and  all 
those  things  that  will  speak  you  a  Christian  and  a  gentle 
man,  which  prudence  may  make  to  have  the  best  consist 
ency.  As  to  the  tender  made  by  his  grace,  the  lord- 
lieutenant,  concerning  the  fort  at  Kinsale,  I  wish  your 
youthful  desires  mayn't  outrun  your  discretion.  His 
grace  may,  for  a  time,  dispense  with  my  absence ;  yours 
he  will  not,  for  so  he  told  me.  God  bless,  direct,  and  pro 
tect  you.  Your  very  affectionate  father, 

W.  PENN." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  15 

But  his  religious  impressions  prevailed  over  the  influ 
ences  of  court  life,  and  he  turned  away  with  disgust  from 
the  routine  of  its  parade  and  ceremonies,  and  the  unsatis 
fying  round  of  its  pleasures  and  gayeties. 

Thus  disappointed  again  in  his  expectations,  but  not 
yet  overcome,  the  Admiral  had  recourse  to  another  expe 
dient.  He  had  large  estates  in  Ireland,  one  of  which, 
comprehending  Shannigary  Castle,  lay  in  the  barony  of 
Imokelly,  and  the  others  in  the  baronies  of  Ibaune  and 
Barryroe,  all  of  them  in  the  county  of  Cork.  He  deter 
mined,  therefore,  to  give  his  son  the  sole  management  of 
these,  knowing  at  least,  while  he  resided  upon  them,  that 
he  would  be  far  from  his  English  connections-,  and  at  any 
rate  that  he  would  have  nmple  employment  for  his  time. 
William  received  his  new  commission,  and  was  happy  in 
the  execution  of  it.  He  performed  it,  after  a  trial  of  many 
months,  to  the  entire  satisfaction,  and  even  joy,  of  his 
father ;  and  he  was  going  on  in  the  diligent  performance 
of  it,  when  this,  his  very  occupation,  brought  him  eventu 
ally  into  the  situation  which  his  father  of  all  others  dep 
recated.  Being  accidentally  on  business  at  Cork,  he 
went  into  a  shop  kept  by  a  woman,  a  Friend,  whom  he 
had  known  when  a  boy.  He  made  himself  known,  and 
reminded  her  of  the  meeting  held  by  Thomas  Loe  at  bis 
father's  house.  On  her  expressing  surprise  at  his  mem 
ory  of  the  circumstances,  he  said  he  could  never  forget 
them,  and  that  he  would  go  a  hundred  miles  to  hear  that 
Friend  speak.  She  told  him  he  need  not  go  so  far,  for  he 
was  now  in  Cork,  and  was  to  have  a  meeting  the  next 
day.  It  was  impossible  that  he  could  return  to  his  farm 
without  seeing  the  man  whom  he  considered  as  his  great- 


16  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

ost  human  benefactor,  and  still  more  without  hearing  his 
discourse.  Accordingly  he  attended.  The  preacher  began 
with  the  text:  "'There  is  a  faith  which  overcomes  the 
world,  and  there  is  a  faith  which  is  overcome  by  the 
world."  On  this  subject  he  enlarged,  and  this  in  so  im 
pressive  a  manner  that  William  was  deeply  affected.  He 
felt  keenly  that  he  had  been  allowing  the  world  to  over 
come  the  drawings  of  his  Heavenly  Father's  love,  and 
wept  much. 

Reviewing  his  life  some  years  afterwards,  in  an  inter 
view  with  some  pious  persons,  he  says  :  "  I  let  them  know 
how  and  when  the  Lord  first  appeared  unto  me,  which 
was  about  the  twelfth  year  of  my  age,  and  how  at  times, 
between  that  and  my  fifteenth,  He  continued  to  visit  me, 
and  the  divine  impressions  He  gave  me  of  himself;  of  my 
persecution  at  Oxford,  and  how  the  Lord  sustained  me  in 
the  midst  of  the  hellish  darkness  and  debauchery  of  that 
place  ;  of  my  being  banished  the  college  ;  the  bitter  usage 
I  underwent  when  I  returned  to  my  father,  whipping, 
beating,  and  turning  out  of  doors  ;  of  the  Lord's  dealings 
with  me  in  France,  and  in  the  time  of  the  great  plague 
in  London ;  in  fine,  the  deep  sense  He  gave  me  of  the 
vanity  of  this  world  and  of  the  irreligiousness  of  the 
religions  of  it ;  then  of  my  mournful  and  bitter  cries  to 
Him,  that  He  would  show  me  his  own  way  of  life  and 
salvation,  and  my  resolution  to  follow  Him  whatever 
approaches  or  suffering  it  might  cost  me,  and  that  with 
great  reverence  and:  broke nness  of  spirit.  How,  after  all 
this,  the  glory  of  the  world  overtook  me,  and  I  was  even 
ready  to  give  myself  up  unto  it,  seeing  as  yet  no  such 
things  as  the  primitive  spirit  and  church  on  earth;  and 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN N.  17 

being  ready  to  faint  concerning  my  hope  of  the  restitution 
of  all  things. 

"  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Lord  visited  me  with  a 
certain  sound  and  testimony  of  his  eternal  Word,  through 
one  of  those  the  world  calls  Quakers,  namely,  Thomas 
Loe.  I  related  the  bitter  mockings  and  scornings  that  fell 
upon  me,  the  displeasure  of  my  parents,  the  cruelty  and 
invective  of  the  priests,  the  strangeness  of  all  my  com 
panions,  and  what  a  sign  and  wonder  they  made  of  me  ; 
but,  above  all,  that  great  cross  of  resisting  and  watching 
against  my  own  vain  affections  and  thoughts." 

William  Penn  was  so  impressed  by  Thomas  Loe's  ser- 
inon,  and  by  an  interview  which  he  had  afterwards  wTith 
him,  that  from  that  day  he  favored  Friends  as  a  religious 
body,  and  began  to  attend  their  meetings.  At  one  of 
these,  in  the  autumn  of  1667,  he  was  apprehended  on  the 
plea  of  a  proclamation  issued  in  1660  against  tumultuous 
assemblies,  and  carried  before  the  mayor.  The  latter, 
looking  at  him  and  observing  that  he  was  not  clothed 
as  others  of  the  Society  were,  offered  him  his  liberty  if  he 
would  give  bond  for  his  good  behavior.  But  not  choosing 
to  do  this,  he  was  committed  with  eighteen  others  to 
prison. 

He  had  not  been  there  long  when  he  wrote  to  Lord 
Orrery,  then  president  of  the  council  of  Munster,  to  re 
quest  his  release.  We  find  in  this  letter  nothing  either 
servile  or  degrading.  It  was  written,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  a  manly  and  yet  decorous  manner.  "Religion,"  says 
he,  "  which  is  at  once  my  crime  and  mine  innocence,  makes 
me  a  prisoner  to  a  mayor's  malice,  but  mine  own  free 
man."  "  And  though  to  dissent  from  a  national  system 
2*  B 


18  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

imposed  by  authority  renders  men  heretics,  yet  I  dare  be 
lieve  your  lordship  is  better  read  in  reason  and  theology 
than  to  subscribe  a  maxim  so  vulgar  and  untrue."  "  But 
I  presume,  my  lord,. the  acquaintance  you  have  had  with 
other  countries  must  needs  have  furnished  you  with  this 
infallible  observation,  that  diversities  of  faith  and  wor 
ship  contribute  not  to  the  disturbance  of  any  place,  where 
moral  uniformity  is  barely  requisite  to  preserve  the  peace." 
This,  his  first  appeal  for  religious  toleration,  of  which  the 
foregoing  are  a  few  sentences,  was  followed  by  an  imme 
diate  order  from  the  earl  for  his  release. 

The  rumor  that  he  had  become  a  Quaker  soon  reached 
his  father.  It  was  conveyed  to  him  by  a  nobleman  then 
resident  in  Ireland,  who  addressed  him  purposely  on  the 
subject.  The  Admiral  on  the  receipt  of  this  letter  sent 
for  his  son.  William  immediately  obeyed,  and  returned 
home.  At  the  first  interview  all  appeared  to  be  well. 
There  was  nothing  discoverable  in  his  dress  or  manners 
by  which  the  information  sent  concerning  him  could  bo 
judged  to  be  true.  But  observing  on  the  next  day  that 
his  son  did  not  uncover  his  head  when  he  came  into  his 
presence  (in  those  days  men  generally  wore  their  hats  in 
the  house),  and  that  he  used  thee  and  thou  when  address 
ing  him,  the  Admiral  demanded  an  explanation. 

"  And  here,"  says  Joseph  Besse,  (the  first  collector  of 
the  works  of  William  Penn  with  a  Journal  of  his  Life 
prefixed,)  "  my  pen  is  diffident  of  her  abilities  to  describe 
that  most  pathetic  and  moving  contest  which  was  between 
his  father  and  him :  his  father  actuated  by  natural  love, 
principally  aiming  at  his  son's  temporal  honor  ;  he,  guided 
by  a  divine  impulse,  having  chiefly  in  view  his  own  ctov- 


OF    WILLIAM    PENX.  19 

nal  welfare :  his  father,  grieved  to  see  the  well  accom 
plished  son  of  his  hopes,  now  ripe  for  worldly  promotion, 
voluntarily  turning  his  back  upon  it ;  he,  no  less  afflicted 
to  think  a  compliance  with  his  earthly  father's  pleasures  was 
inconsistent  with  his  obedience  to  his  heavenly  one:  his 
father  pressing  his  conformity  to  the  customs  and  fashions 
of  the  times ;  he,  modestly  craving  leave  to  refrain  from 
what  would  hurt  his  conscience:  his  father  earnestly  en 
treating  him,  and  almost  on  his  knees  beseeching  him,  to 
yield  to  his  desire  ;  he,  of  a  loving  and  tender  disposition, 
in  an  extreme  agony  of  spirit  to  behold  his  father's  con 
cern  and  trouble  :  his  father  threatening  to  disinherit  him  ; 
he,  humbly  submitting  to  his  father's  will  therein :  his 
father  turning  his  back  on  him  in  anger ;  he,  lifting  up 
his  heart  to  God  for  strength  to  support  him  in  that  time 
of  trial." 

The  Admiral,  after  this,  gave  up  all  thoughts  of  alter 
ing  the  general  views  of  his  son.  He  hoped  only  to  be 
able  to  prevail  upon  him  to  give  up  certain  peculiarities 
which  appeared  to  have  little  to  do  with  conscience,  and 
to  be  used  merely  as  the  distinguishing  marks  of  a  sect. 
He  therefore  told  his  son  that  he  would  trouble  him  no 
more  on  the  subject  of  his  conversion,  if  he  would  only 
consent  to  take  his  hat  off  in  his  own  presence,  and  in 
that  of  the  king  and  the  Duke  of  York.  William,  on  re 
ceiving  the  proposition,  desired  time  to  consider  of  it. 
This  agitated  his  father.  He  had  no  conception  that  the 
subject  of  his  solicitation  required  thought.  He  became 
immediately  suspicious,  and  told  his  son  that  he  had  only 
asked  for  time  that  he  might  consult  his  friends  the  Quak 
ers.  William  assured  his  father  that  he  would  do  no  such 


20  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

thing ;  and  having  pledged  his  word  to  this  effect,  he  left 
him,  and  retired  to  his  own  chamber  to  pour  out  his  soul 
in  prayer  for  direction,  and  strength  to  follow  it. 

It  will  be  asked  by  some,  what  necessity  there  could 
be,  in  a  matter  apparently  so  trivial,  to  retire  cither  for 
serious  meditation  or  for  Divine  help  ?  In  his  view  it  was 
a  question  of  principle,  involving,  as  he  believed,  his  obedi 
ence  to  God,  and  nothing  of  this  character  was  too  small 
to  be  carefully  regarded  by  a  mind  divinely  awakened,  as 
was  his.  Uncovering  the  head  is  the  mode  by  which 
Friends,  in  conformity  with  the  practice  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  indicated  their  reverence  to  the  Supreme  Being, 
when  they  approached  Him  in  the  solemn  act  of  prayer ; 
and  as  they  believed  that  the  pride  of  man  induced  him 
to  claim  it  as  a  token  of  respect  to  himself,  they  therefore 
felt  themselves  conscientiously  restrained  from  giving  it. 

The  custom,  moreover,  leads  to  repeated  acts  of  insin 
cerity  as  an  expression  of  respect  which  often  is  not  felt 
or  deserved.  It  is  often  a  sign  of  flattery  which  hurts 
both  giver  and  receiver,  and  leads  to  making  distinctions 
on  account  of  social  position  between  those  who  are 
equally  worthy  in  the  Divine  sight. 

William  Penn  loved  his  father  and  respected  him. 
He  was  sensible  of  the  duty  he  owed  him  as  a  parent, 
but_he  wa§_eqiiaUy_sjEmsible  of  a  superior  duty  to  God. 
He  was  made  to  feel  that  his  peace  of  mind  and  religious 
growth  were  dependent  upon  his  faithfulness,  and  found 
himself  compelled  to  inform  his  father  that  he  could  not 
accede  to  his  request.  This  he  did  with  expressions  of 
the  greatest  tenderness  and  affection,  as  well  as  of  filial 
submission. "  The  Admiral  heard  his  answer,  but  could 


OF    WILLIAM    TENN.  21 

not  bear  it.  Unable  to  gain  the  least  concession  from 
his  son,  and  in  a  point  where  he  judged  it  impossible  that 
persons  bred  up  as  gentlemen  could  disagree,  he  gave  way 
to  his  anger,  and  in  the  violence  of  the  blast  which  fol 
lowed  it,  he  once  more  turned  him  out  of  doors. 

He  was  now  thrown  upon  the  wide  world.  Having  no 
independent  fortune  of  his  own,  and  having  been  brought 
up  to  no  trade  or  profession,  he  had  not  the  means  of 
getting  his  livelihood  like  other  people.  This  sudden 
change  from  affluence  to  poverty  could  not  but  at  first 
have  -affected  him  ;  but  the  thought  of  having  broken  the 
peace  of  mind,  however  innocently,  of  his  father,  and  of 
being  apparently  at  variance  with  him,  was  that  which 
occasioned  him  the  most  pain.  He  is  said  to  have  borne 
nis  situation  with  great  resignation,  deriving  support  from 
the  belief  that  they  who  left  houses  and  parents  for  the 
kingdom  of  God's  sake,  should  eventually  reap  their  re 
ward.  He  began,  however,  to  find  that  even  in  his  tem 
poral  state  he  was  not  deserted.  His  mother  kept  up  a 
communication  with  him  privately,  furnishing  him  as  well 
as  she  could  from  her  own  purse  ;  and  several  kind  friends 
administered  also  to  his  wants. 


22  PASSAGES    FEOM    THE    LIFE 


II. 

ABOUT  the  year  16G8,  being  then  in  the  twenty-fourth 
year  of  his  age,  William  Pcnn,  having  passed  through 
many  deep  exercises  and  probations,  both  inwardly  and 
outwardly ;  having  parted  with  all  that  the  world  holds 
dear  for  Christ's  sake,  and  been  made  a  partaker  of  the 
powers  of  the  world  to  come,  a  gift  in  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel  of  life  and  salvation  was  dispensed  to  him  by  the 
head  of  the  Church.  Animated  with  an  ardent  concern 
for  the  everlasting  welfare  of  his  fellow-creatures,  his 
heart  warmed  with  divine  love,  and  reaching  forth  in 
good  will  towards  all  without  distinction  of  name  or  party, 
he  became  a  zealous,  indefatigable,  and  effectual  laborer  in 
the  vineyard  of  his  divine  Master. 

The  following  letter,  written  about  this  time  to  a  young 
person  of  his  acquaintance,  will  serve  to  show  his  solici 
tude  for  others,  and  his  Christian  plainness : 

"NAVY  OFFICE,  lOtli  of  the  Fifth  month,  1608. 
"  FRIEND  : — It  was  a  true  word  spoken  by  Jesus  Christ 
to  undeceive  the  careless,  wanton  Jews,  among  whom  He 
manifested  his  glorious  Truth,  through  that  body  prepared 
of  God  for  that  very  end,  that  the  way  which  leads  to 
everlasting  life  and  rest  is  straight  and  narrow.  My 
friend,  how  much  it  concerns  the  welfare  of  thy  immortal 
Boul  to  reflect  upon  the  course  of  life  and  way  thou  now 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  23 

art  walking  in,  before  an  evident  stroke  from  heaven  call 
thee  hence,  and  send  thy  so  much  indulged  flesh  and 
blood  into  the  grave. 

i:  Well,  my  friend,  this  know,  and  by  these  shall  thou 
be  judged,  and  in  it  I  am  clear,  that  as  without  holiness 
none  can  see  God,  so  without  subjection  to  that  Spirit, 
Light,  or  Grace  in  the  heart,  which  God  in  love  hath 
made  to  appear  to  all,  that  teacheth  to  deny  all  ungodli 
ness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously, 
and  godly  in  this  present  world;  I  say,  without  subjection 
hereunto,  there  is  no  attaining  to  that  holiness  which 
will  give  thee  an  entrance  into  his  presence,  in  which  is 
joy  and  pleasure  forever.  Examine  thyself,  how  remote 
thou  art  from  the  guidings  and  instructions  of  this  Spirit 
<  f  grace,  who  canst  countenance  this  age  in  frequenting 
their  wicked  and  vain  sports,  plays,  and  entertainments, 
conforming  thyself  to  ridiculous  customs,  and  making  one 
at  idle  talking,  and  vain  jesting,  wheresoever  thou  comest, 
not  considering  thou  shalt  account  to  God"  for  every  idle 
word.  And  let  all  thy  frolicking  associates  know  the  day 
is  hastening  in  which  they  shall  not  abide  the  presence  of 
Him  that  sits  upon  the  throne.  It  shall  be  a  time  of  hor 
ror,  amazement,  and  distress.  Then  shall  they  know  there 
is  a  righteous,  holy  Judge  of  all. 

"  Retire  from  the  noise  and  clatter  of  tempting  visibles, 
to  the  beholding  Him  who  is  invisible,  that  He  may  reign 
in  thy  soul.  God  over  all,  exalted  and  blessed  forever.  Fare 
well.  I  am  thy  well-wishing,  real  friend, 

WILLIAM  PEXX." 

Almost  as  soon  as  he  had  identified  himself  with  the 


24  PASSAGES    FEOM    THE    LIFE 

Society  of  Friends,  he  felt  himself  called  to  be  a  defender 
of  their  religious  belief  against  public  attacks.  In  this 
year  Jonathan  Clapham  published  a  work  called  "A  Guide 
to  True  Religion,"  in  which  he  set  forth  certain  articles 
as  the  true  Christian  creed,  declaring  all  who  did  not 
assent  to  them  incapable  of  salvation,  and  inveighing 
with  scverit}7  against  the  doctrines  of  the  Friends.  Wil 
liam  Pcnn  in  reply  wrote  "  The  Guide  Mistaken,"  from 
which  a  few  passages  are  taken. 

"Thou  must  not,  reader,  from  my  querying  thus,  con 
clude  we  do  deny  (as  he  hath  falsely  charged  us)  those 
glorious  three  which  bear  record  in  heaven,  the  Father, 
Word,  and  Spirit,  neither  the  Infinity,  Eternity,  find  Di 
vinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  we  know  that  He  is  the  mighty 
God ;  nor  what  the  Father  sent  his  Son  to  do  on  the  be 
half  of  lost  man  ;  declaring  to  the  whole  world,  we  know 
no  other  name,  by  which  atonement,  salvation,  and  plen 
teous  redemption  comes ;  but  by  his  name  are,  according 
to  our  measures,  made  sensible  of  its  mighty  power. 

"  His  next  accusation  is,  That  they  extol  the  light  in  all 
men,  as  the  only  sufficient  rule  to  walk  by,  to  the  appar 
ent  slighting  of  Scriptures  and  preaching. 

"  Reader,  if  yet  thou  art  a  stranger  to  this  Light,  let  me 
beseech  thee  once  to  observe  it  in  thyself,  and  tell  nio 
then  if  it  has  not  that  divine  quality  to  discern  between 
the  precious  and  the  vile,  and  manifest  every  thought, 
word,  and  act ;  whether  it  is  well-pleasing,  or  the  con 
trary,  to  the  great  God?  If  it  be  criminal  to  own  those 
Scriptures  he  falsely  says  we  slight,  the  case  is  changed, 
otherwise,  we  all  confess  that  God  is  light,  and  that  Ho 
hath  enlightened  every  man  ;  by  heeding  and  obeying  the 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN N.  25 

dictates  of  which  we  may  be  preserved  in  that  capacity,  as 
the  same  Scripture  says,  which  shall  bring*  us  into  the 
pure  fellowship,  and  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  shall  cleanse 
us  from  all  sin.  Nor  do  they  own  a  principle  in  the 
clouds,  but  above  all  "people,  have  demonstrated  the 
power  and  authority  of  their  principle  by  that  redemp 
tion  it  has  wrought  for  them,  and  the  alteration  it  has 
made  from  that  condition  which  nakedly  exposed  their 
immortal  souls  to  the  snares  and  entanglements  of  this 
world's  perishing  glories,  to  experience  the  blood  which 
clcanseth  from  all  iniquity,  the  unspeakable  peace  of  per 
fect  reconciliation  with  God. 

'•'And  for  his  confident  affirming  we  slight  both  Scrip 
tures  and  preaching,  I  have  this  to  say,  That  as  there  is  not 
any  who  discover  more  respect  for  them,  by  a  conformity 
of  life  to  what  they  require,  so  do  they  both  read,  and  as 
often  quote  them  in  preaching  or  declaration  as  any  who 
profess  them  for  their  rule. 

"  Ills  fifth  reflection  is.  Our  openly  denying  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity.  But  methinks  it  would  become  him  who 
is  reproving  others  for  not  paying  that  respect  they  ought 
unto  the  Scriptures,  to  be  a  little  more  exemplary  in  using 
their  unquestionable  phrase  and  sound  expression,  for  I 
am  altogether  ignorant  of  any  Scripture  that  mentions 
that  word  Trinity ;  yet  if  by  Trinity  he  understands  those 
three  witnesses  in  heaven,  Father,  Word,  and  Spirit,  he 
should  have  better  acquainted  himself  with  what  we  dis 
own,  than  thus  ignorantly  to  blaze  abroad  our  open  denial 
of  what  we  most  absolutely  credit  and  believe. 

"  His  next  slander  runs  thus  :  The  person  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  to  his  human  nature,  with  all  his  offices  assigned 


26  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

to  Him  by  his  Father,  they  utterly  reject,  though  this  is 
an  arcanum  that  is  kept  hid  from  their  novices. 

"  Fain  would  he  here  insinuate  hard  thoughts  concerning 
an  inoffensive  people  ;  whilst  in  reality  they  own  no  other 
name  by  which  salvation  is  obtainable  than  the  Christ  of 
God;  and  all  the  offices  that  ever  were  assigned  Him  by 
his  Father  are  by  them  acknowledged;  and  so  remote  are 
they  from  hiding  their  sentiments,  that  whosoever  will 
but  give  himself  the  time  of  frequenting  their  meetings, 
or  perusing  their  books,  will  soon  perceive  how  very  far 
this  character  is  wide  of  truth. 

"  His  next  report  is,  we  call  not  upon  God  in  the  name 
and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ.  But,  reader,  assure  thy 
self,  the  Quakers  never  knew  any  other  name  than  that 
of  Jesus  Christ,  through  which  to  find  acceptance  with  the 
Lord ;  nor  is  it  by  any  other  than  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of 
the  new  covenant,  by  whom  they  expect  redemption,  and 
may  receive  the  promise  of  an  eternal  inheritance. 

"  He  further  says :  They  trust  not  in  his  death  for  par 
don  and  salvation,  but  in  a  pretended  sinless  perfection. 

"  They  are  so  far  from  disowning  the  death  and  sufferings 
of  Christ  that  there  is  not  a  people  on  the  earth  that  so 
assuredly  witness  and  demonstrate  a  fellowship  therewith, 
confessing  before  men  and  angels  that  Christ  died  for  the 
sins  of  the  world,  and  gave  his  life  a  ransom.  Perfection 
from  sin  they  hold  attainable,  because  he  that  is  born  of 
God  sins  not,  and  that  nothing  which  is  unclean  can  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God  ;  no  crown  without  victory ;  the  little 
leaven  leavens  the  whole  lump;  the  strong  man  must  be 
cast  out.  Paul  prays  they  might  be  sanctified  wholly ;  be 
ye  perfect  as  God  is  perfect ;  be  perfect,  be  of  good  com- 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN  N.  27 

fort ;  unto  a  perfect  man ;  as  many  as  be  perfect ;  that  the 
man  of  God  may  be  perfect ;  the  God  of  peace  make  you 
perfect  in  every  good  work ;  the  God  of  all  grace  make 
you  perfect ;  let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of 
flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in 'the  fear  of  God; 
leaving  those  things  behind,  let  us  go  on  unto  perfection, 
and  this  will  we  do  if  God  permit.  If  perfection  were 
unattainable,  it  would  be  strange  that  the  Scriptures 
should  speak  of  such  a  state,  and  very  preposterous  that 
Paul,  Peter,  etc.,  should  so  solicit  and  pray  for  the  ancient 
saints,  that  they  might  come  thither,  even  to  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect ;  nay,  he  positively  avouches  to 
have  arrived  there,  at  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  at  the 
church  of  the  first-born,  etc. 

"  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  just  and  unjust, 
last  judgment,  heaven  and  hell,  as  future  rewards;  they 
believe  and  confess : — Arid,  as  my  faithful  testimony  both 
to  their  life  and  doctrine,  I  declare,  arid  be  it  known  to  all 
that  ever  knew  me,  that  when  the  unspeakable  riches  of 
God's  love  visited  me,  by  the  call  of  his  glorious  light, 
from  the  dark  practices,  wandering  notions,  and  vain  con 
versations  of  this  polluted  world,  and  that  my  heart  was 
influenced  thereby,  and  consequently  disposed  for  the  more 
intimate  and  sincere  reception  of  it ;  those  very  habits, 
which  once  I  judged  impossible,  whilst  here,  to  have  re 
linquished,  and  did  allow  myself  a  liberty  therein,  because 
not  openly  gross  or  scandalous,  became  not  only  burden 
some,  and  by  that  light  were  manifested  to  be  of  another 
nature  than  that  which  I  was  called  to  the  participation 
of;  but  in  my  faithful  adherence  to  its  holy  counsel  and 
instructions,  I  was  immediately  endued  with  a  power  that 


28  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

gave  dominion  over  them.  And  being  in  measure  redeemed 
from  that  to  which  the  curse  is  pronounced,  I  sensibly 
enjoyed  the  blessings  that  attended  a  reconciliation. 

"And  never  since  I  have  been  conversant  with  their 
principles  have  I  found  one  article  that  did  not  receive  a 
full  and  satisfactory  assent  from  that  very  grace,  spirit,  or 
light  of  God  which  first  called  me  from  the  gross  impieties, 
vain  entertainments,  tempting  glories,  and  will-worships 
of  this  generation.  As  I  have  the  seal  of  God's  eternal 
spirit  of  love  upon  my  soul  as  an  infallible  assurance,  so, 
since  my  first  frequenting  of  them  and  their  assemblies,  I 
have  observed  that  holy,  innocent,  and  righteous  conver 
sation  which  harmonizes  with  the  severity,  circumspection, 
and  self-denying  life  of  the  Gospel;  and  testify  (as  revealed 
from  God)  that  since  those  centuries  in  which  the  apostasy 
eclipsed  the  beauty  of  the  primitive  light  there  has  not 
been  so  glorious  a  discovery  of  spiritual,  pure,  and  evan 
gelical  worship,  life,  arid  doctrine  as  God  hath,  in  his 
loving-kindness,  raised  the  so  much  despised  Quakers  to 
own,  practise,  and  declare  amongst  the  nations  ;  as  the 
good  old  way  of  holiness  that  leads  from  intemperance, 
vanity,  pride,  oppression,  and  the  love  of  this  world's 
perishing  glories,  to  that  everlasting  joy  and  rest  which 
is  reserved  for  the  people  of  the  most  high  God. 

"  In  short,  they  are  sound  in  principle,  zealous  for  God, 
devout  in  worship,  earnest  in  prayer,  constant  in  profession, 
harmless  and  exemplary  in  their  lives,  patient  in  sufferings, 
orderly  in  their  affairs,  few  in  words,  punctual  in  dealings, 
merciful  to  enemies,  self-denying  as  to  this  world's  delights 
and  enjoyments  ;  and  to  sum  up  all,  standards  for  the  God 
of  heaven,  against  the  pride,  cruelty,  last,  avarice,  etc.,  of 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN X.  29 

this  godless  generation,  whom  the  unborn  shall  call 
blessed  when  their  testimonies  are  finished,  and  they 
gathered  into  the  unspeakable  solace  and  possession  of 
God's  eternal  presence." 

About  this  time  he  attended  the  death-bed  of  Thomas 
Loe.  This  eminent  minister,  we  may  remember,  had  been 
the  messenger  of  good  to  William  Penn  while  at  Oxford; 
and  it  was  by  his  powerful  ministry  that  he  was  afterwards 
convinced. 

The  following  account  of  the  last  hours  of  his  beloved 
and  venerated  friend  is  found  in  a  letter  of  William  Penn 
to  Isaac  Penington. 

"I  found  him  in  readiness  to  depart.  Friends,  much 
affected,  stood  around  his  bed.  When  I  came  in  and  had 
set  myself  upon  the  bedside,  so  shook  was  he  by  the  power 
of  the  Lord,  and  overcome  by  the  ravishing  glory  of  his 
presence,  that  it  was  wonderful  to  all  the  Friends.  Taking 
me  by  the  hand,  he  spoke  thus :  '  Dear  heart,  bear  thy 
cross,  stand  faithful  for  God  and  bear  thy  testimony  in  thy 
day  and  generation ;  and  God  will  give  thee  an  eternal 
crown  of  glory  that  none  shall  ever  take  from  thee.  There 
is  not  another  way.  Bear  thy  cross.  Stand  faithful  for 
God  This  is  the  way  the  holy  men  of  old  walked  in ; 
and  it  shall  prosper.  God  has  brought  immortality  to 
light,  and  immortal  life  is-  felt  in  its  blessedness.  My 
heart  is  full.  My  cup  runs  over.  Glory,  glory  to  his 
name  forever!  Friends,  keep  your  testimonies.  Live  to 
God  and  He  will  be  with  you.  Be  not  troubled.  The 
love  of  God  overcomes  my  heart.' 

"  It  effected  more  than  all  the  outward  potions  given 
him ;  for  it  so  enlivened  his  spirits  and  raised  him  that  he 


30  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

soon  .ifter  got  up  and  walked  about,  saying  to  us,  '  Many 
times  when  I  have  seemed  to  be  going  the  Lord  has  sinned 
upon  my  tabernacle  and  raised  it  up.' 

"But  it  was,  then,  the  will  of  the  Lord  that,  after  all 
his  labor,  perils,  and  travels,  he  should  there  lay  down  his 
body  amongst  his  ancient  friends.  He  lay  some  time 
speechless,  his  spirit  being  centred ;  and  at  last  he  went 
away  with  great  stillness,  having  finished  his  testimony, 
and  left  many  demonstrations  of  his  service  and  much 
fruit  of  his  diligent  labor.  My  soul  loved  him  while  living, 
and  now  bemoans  his  loss  when  dead.  The  day  following, 
we  laid  the  mortal  part  in  the  ground,  it  having  done  its 
Master's  work." 

About  the  same  time  William  Penn  was  involved  in  a 
controversy  which  occasioned  him  no  small  share  of  trouble. 
The  seventeenth  century  is  known  to  have  been  a  period 
remarkable  for  the  dissensions  which  existed  in  England 
among  the  different  professions  of  religion.  An  extraor 
dinary  interest  in  relation  to  the  concerns  of  salvation 
seemed  to  be  awakened,  and  many  were  earnestly  seeking 
after  the  knowledge  of  the  Truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Public 
disputes  on  doctrinal  subjects  were  very  common,  and  were 
too  often  managed  with  an  acrimony  and  rudeness  incon 
sistent  with  that  divine  charity  which  is  peaceable,  gentle, 
and  easy  to  be  entreated.  The  Society  of  Friends,  then 
in  its  infancy,  had  greatly  increased  in  numbers,  and 
attracted  considerable  attention.  Its  doctrines  were  but 
little  understood  and  much  misrepresented,  and  its  mem 
bers  were  therefore  frequently  engaged  in  defending  them 
selves  from  the  aspersions  of  their  enemies,  often  in  public 
disputes. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  31 

Two  of  the  hearers  of  Thomas  Yinccnt,  the  pastor  of  a 
Presbyterian  congregation  in  Spitalfields,  going  one  day 
to  a  meeting  of  Friends,  were  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
their  doctrines,  and  joined  the  Society.  Yinccnt  took 
offence  at  this,  and  showed  his  displeasure  by  charging 
the  Society  with  entertaining  "the  most  erroneous  and 
damnable  doctrines."  William  Penn,  coming  to  the  knowl 
edge  of  these  circumstances,  demanded  an  opportunity  of 
clearing  the  Society  of  the  accusation  where  it  had  been 
made,  and,  after  some  difficulty,  the  promise  of  a  conference 
in  the  Presbyterian  meeting-house  was  obtained. 

At  the  time  named,  he  and  George  Whitehead  came ; 
but  Thomas  Yinccnt  had  taken  care  to  have  the  house  pre 
occupied  by  his  usual  auditory,  and  had  three  of  his  clerical 
brethren  to  assist  and  support  him  in  the  expected  discus 
sion.  As  Friends  had  been  publicly  charged  with  holding 
erroneous  and  dangerous  doctrines,  George  Whitehead 
attempted,  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  meeting,  to  explain 
to  the  audience  what  their  doctrines  really  were.  To  this 
Yinccnt  objected,  and  insisted  upon  deducing  their  prin 
ciples  from  their  answers  to  such  questions  as  he  should 
propound  to  them.  Being  supported  in  his  plan  by  the 
company,  who  were  chiefly  his  own  hearers,  he  began  to 
catechise  them. 

The  following  syllogism,  which  Yincent  used,  may  serve 
as  a  specimen  of  the  mode  of  argument  employed  in  that 
age  of  religious  controversy. 

"  There  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven :  the 
Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  these  three 
are  one. 

"  These  are  either  three  manifestations,  three  operations, 


32  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

three  substances,  or  three  something  else  besides  sub 
sistences. 

"But  they  are  not  three  manifestations,  three  opera 
tions,  three  substances,  nor  three  anything-  else  besides 
subsistences. 

"  Ergo,  three  subsistences." 

George  Whitehead  desired  an  explanation  of  the  terms, 
"  inasmuch  as  God  does  not  choose  to  wrap  up  his  truths 
in  heathenish  metaphysics,  but  in  plain  language." 

A  protracted  and  desultory  discussion  ensued,  in  which 
much  was  said  but  nothing  settled.  Many  of  the  company 
behaved  rudely,  manifesting  by  their  levity  and  abusive 
language,  not  only  a  want  of  religious  sobriety,  but  of 
common  civility.  After  the  dispute,  for  such  it  soon  be 
came,  had  continued  till  late  at  night,  Thomas  Vincent 
suddenly  fell  to  prayer,  in  the  course  of  which  he  charged 
the  Friends  present  with  being  blasphemers  against  God  ; 
and  as  soon  as  he  had  finished  he  requested  the  company 
to  disperse,  setting  them  the  example  by  retiring  with  his 
three  associates.  As  William  Penn  and  George  White- 
head  had  not  obtained  the  desired  opportunity  of  vindicat 
ing  themselves  and  their  principles,  they  disregarded  this 
request,  and  a  number  of  the  company  remaining  together, 
although  the  candles  had  been  put  out,  they  spoke  for  some 
time  in  the  dark  in  defence  of  their  principles,  and  in  reply 
to  the  charges  which  had  been  brought  against  them. 
Thomas  Vincent,  finding  the  company  had  not  dispersed, 
returned  to  them,  and  urged  a  dismission  of  the  assembly. 
To  this  demand  Friends  acceded,  upon  his  promising  to 
afford  them  another  meeting. 

After  waiting  sometime  for  the  fulfilment  of  his  prom- 


OF    WILL  JAM    PENN.  33 

isc,  William  Perm  and  George  Whitehead  went  to  his 
meeting  on  a  lecture  day,  and  having  waited  till  the 
service  was  over,  requested  an  opportunity  of  clearing 
themselves  from  the  aspersions  which  had  been  cast  upon 
them.  But  Vincent  would  neither  retract  the  charges  he 
had  made,  nor  afford  them  the  opportunity  of  vindicating 
themselves. 

William  Penn,  therefore,  wrote  in  reply  "  The  Sandy 
Foundation  Shaken,  or  the  generally  believed  doctrines 
of  our  Lord  subsisting  in  three  distinct  and  separate 
persons;  the  impossibility  of  God's  pardoning  sinners 
without  a  plenary  satisfaction ;  and  the  justification  of 
impure  persons  by  an  imputative  righteousness  refuted." 

Of  this  controversy  and  the  essay  which  grew  out  of  it 
we  may  observe,  that  the  method  Thomas  Vincent  adopted 
to  establish  his  charges  of  erroneous  doctrines  against 
Friends  was  to  bring  them  to  deny  some  of  those  opinions 
which  he  and  his  fellow-professors  held  to  be  fundamental 
truths.  The  dispute,  therefore,  turned  not  so  much  on  the 
doctrines  of  Friends,  as  upon  those  of  the  Presbyterians, 
or  at  least  upon  those  w^hich  Thomas  Vincent  and  his  co 
adjutors  proposed.  The  object  which  William  Penn  de 
signed  to  effect  by  the  pamphlet  in  question,  consequently, 
was  to  prove  that  the  doctrines,  as  stated  by  his  opponent, 
were  not  sound  and  scriptural,  rather  than  to  illustrate  his 
own.  He  was  then  a  young  man  about  twenty-four  years 
of  age,  had  but  recently  become  a  professor  in  the  Society 
of  Friends,  was  well  versed  in  the  learning  of  the  schools, 
possessed  a  very  acute,  discriminating  mind,  and  having 
embraced  the  religion  of  the  Quakers  with  all  his  heart, 
was  full  of  zeal;  it  is  therefore  not  surprising  that  he 

C 


84  PASSAGES    FKOM    THE    LIFE 

followed  his  opponent  upon  the  ground  which  he  took,  and 
exposed  his  absurdities  and  contradictions  by  arguments 
and  illustrations,  which  have  very  little,  if  any,  connection 
with  the  doctrines  of  Friends. 

It  may  be  fairly  admitted  that  some  of  the  arguments 
advanced  partake  more  of  the  metaphysical  than  the  evan 
gelical  character.  But  they  were  elicited  by  the  questions 
and  arguments  of  his  opponents.  In  a  subsequent  period 
of  his  life  we  find  William  Penn  expressing  very  clearly 
his  disapprobation  of  the  practice  to  which  the  theological 
disputants  of  that  day  were  too  much  addicted,  and  of 
which  the  course  pursued  by  Thomas  Vincent  and  his  co 
adjutors  is  a  striking  example. 

Being  intent  upon  the  exposure  of  Thomas  Vincent's 
notion  of  distinct  and  separate  personality,  he  directed  hi.s 
attention  in  the  body  of  the  work  strictly  to  that  object. 
Yet,  as  if  he  was  apprehensive  that  his  manner  of  treating 
the  subject  might  incur  the  imputation  of  denying  thu 
scriptural  doctrine  of  the  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven, 
he  distinctly  repels  this  imputation  in  these  words: 
"Mistake  me  not — we  never  have  disowned  a  Father, 
Word,  and  Spirit,  which  are  One ;  but  men's  inventions." 

With  regard  to  the  other  two  subjects  embraced  in  the 
title,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  stress  of  the  arguments 
lay  in  the  impossibility  of  pardon  being  extended  to  sinners 
without  a  plenary  and  rigid  satisfaction,  and  in  the  justi 
fication  of  sinners  by  imputed  righteousness,  while  they 
continued  in  their  sins.  To  these  points  William  Penn 
directed  his  arguments  without  in  the  smallest  degree  in 
validating  the  virtue  or  benefits  to  the  penitent  and  return  - 
ing  sinner,  of  that  most  acceptable  propitiatory  sacrifice 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  35 

which  our  Saviour  offered  upon  the  cross  for  the  sins  of 
mankind.  This  is  apparent  from  the  work  itself,  in 
which  he  quotes  several  passages  of  Scripture  where  this 
precious  doctrine  is  clearly  enforced;  but  also  from  the 
following  extract  from  a  letter  which  he  wrote  in  reply 
to  some  exceptions  taken  to  "  The  Sandy  Foundation 
Shaken." 

"I  say  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  that 
lie  w^as  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world ;  to  declare  God's  righteousness  for  the  re 
mission  of  sins  that  are  past,  etc.,  to  all  that  repented  and 
had  faith  in  his  Son.  Therein  the  love  of  God  appeared, 
that  He  declared  his  good  will  thereby  to  be  reconciled : 
Christ  bearing  away  the  sins  that  are  past,  as  the  scape 
goat  did  of  old,  not  excluding  inward  work ;  for,  till  that 
is  begun,  none  can  be  benefited,  though  it  is  not  the  work, 
but  God's  free  love  that  remits  and  blots  out,  of  which, 
the  death  of  Christ,  and  his  sacrificing  of  himself,  was  a 
most  certain  declaration  and  confirmation.  In  short,  that 
declared  remission,  to  all  who  believe  and  obey,  for  the 
sins  that  are  past ;  which  is  the  first  part  of  Christ's 
work  (as  it  is  a  king's  to  pardon  a  traitor,  before  he  ad- 
vanceth  him),  and  hitherto  the  acquittance  imputes  a 
righteousness  (inasmuch  as  men,  on  true  repentance,  are 
imputed  as  clean  of  guilt  as  if  they  had  never  sinned),  and 
thus  far  justified ;  but  the  completing  of  this,  by  the  work 
ing  out  of  sin  inherent,  must  be  by  the  power  and  Spirit 
of  Christ  in  the  heart,  destroying  the  old  man  and  his 
deeds,  and  bringing  in  the  new  and  everlasting  righteous 
ness.  So,  that  which  I  writ  against,  is  such  doctrine  as 
extended  Christ's  death  and  obedience,  not  to  the  first, 


36  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

but  this  second  part  of  justification  ;  not  the  pacifying  [of] 
conscience,  as  to  past  sin  ;  but  to  complete  salvation,  with 
out  cleansing  and  purging,  from  all  filthiness  of  flesh  and 
spirit,  by  the  internal  operation  of  his  holy  power  and 
Spirit." 

The  work  when  it  was  published  gave  great  offence. 
Among  the  offended  persons  were  some  of  the  prelates, 
of  whom  the  Bishop  of  London  was  the  most  conspicuous. 
By  these  men  it  was  made  a  subject  of  public  animadver 
sion,  and  an  order  was  procured  for  the  arrest  of  the  au 
thor,  and  his  imprisonment  in  the  Tower. 

In  his  new  habitation  he  was  treated  with  great  sever 
ity.  He  was  not  only  kept  in  close  confinement,  but  his 
friends  were  denied  access  to  him.  He  was  informed  that 
the  Bishop  of  London  had  resolved  that  he  should  either 
publicly  retract  his  opinions  or  die  a  prisoner.  He  answered, 
"  All  is  well.  I  wish  they  had  told  me  so  before,  since  the 
expecting  of  a  release  put  a  stop  to  some  business ;  thou 
mayst  tell  my  father,  who  I  know  will  ask  thee,  these 
\vords :  that  my  prison  shall  be  my  grave  before  I  will 
budge  a  jot ;  for  I  owe  my  conscience  to  no  mortal  man  ; 
I  have  no  need  to  fear,  God  will  make  amends  for  all ; 
they  are  mistaken  in  me ;  I  value  not  their  threats  anil 
resolutions,  for  they  shall  know  I  can  weary  out  their 
malice  and  peevishness,  and  in  me  they  shall  all  behold  a 
resolution  above  fear,  conscience  above  cruelty,  and  a  baf- 
ile  put  to  all  their  designs  by  the  spirit  of  patience,  the 
companion  of  all  the  tribulated  flock  of  the  blessed  Jesus, 
who  is  the  author  and  finisher  of  the  faith  that  overcomes 
the  world,  yea,  death  and  hell,  too.  Neither  great  nor 
good  things  are  ever  attained  without  loss  and  hardships. 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN X.  37 

He  that  would  reap  and  not  labor,  must  faint  with  the 
wind  and  perish  in  disappointments ;  but  an  hair  of  my 
head  shall  not  fall  without  the  providence  of  my  Father 
that  is  over  all." 

He  wrote  a  letter  to  Sir  Henry  Bennett,  Lord  Arling 
ton,  then  principal  secretary  of  state,  by  whose  warrant 
he  was  committed  to  prison.  In  this  letter  he  denies  the 
charges  which  had  been  brought  against  him,  attributes 
the  zeal  shown  by  his  persecutors  to  malice  and  ignorance, 
and  requests  that  he  may  be  restored  to  his  liberty,  as 
being  imprisoned  without  just  cause  or  proper  examina 
tion  of  his  case. 

He  sa3Ts :  "  What  if  I  differ  from  some  religious  appre 
hensions  ?  Am  I  therefore  incompatible  with  human  so 
cieties  ?  Shall  it  not  be  remembered  with  what  success 
kingdoms  and  commonwealths  have  lived  under  the  bal 
ance  of  divers  parties  ?  "  "I  know  not  any  unfit  for  po 
litical  society,  but  those  who  maintain  principles  subver 
sive  of  industry,  fidelity,  justice,  and  obedience;"  "but 
to  conceit  that  men  must  form  their  faith  of  things  proper 
to  another  world,  according  to  the  prescriptions  of  other 
mortal  men  of  this,  is  both  ridiculous  and  dangerous." 

"  The  understanding  can  never  be  convinced  by  other 
arguments  than  what  are  adequate  to  its  own  nature. 
Force  may  make  hypocrites,  but  it  can  make  no  converts." 
"  If  I  am  at  any  time  convinced,  I  will  pay  the  homage 
of  it  to  truth,  and  not  to  base  hypocrisy." 

He  requests  the  liberty  of  presenting  his  case  to  the 
king,  and  of  clearing  himself  before  him  of  the  accusa 
tions  of  his  enemies  ;  and,  finally,  if  that  request  should  be 
denied,  that  Sir  Henry  Bennett  himself  would  allow  him 
4 


38  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

an  opportunity  of  vindicating  his  innocence ;  but  he  adds, 
"  I  make  no  apology  for  my  letter,  as  a  trouble,  the  usual 
style  of  supplicants,  because  I  think  the  honor  that  will 
accrue  to  thce  by  being  just,  and  releasing  the  oppressed, 
exceeds  the  advantages  that  can  succeed  to  me." 

It  appears  that  his  commitment  was  altogether  arbi 
trary — that  he  was  detained  as  a  state  prisoner,  and  not 
meven  informed  of  the  accusation  on  which  his  imprison 
ment  was  founded  His  request  to  be  brought  before  the 
king,  or  the  secretary  of  state,  to  be  informed  of  the  of 
fence  laid  to  his  charge,  and  permitted  to  vindicate  his 
innocence,  was  disregarded.  Having  waited  for  some 
time  in  expectation  of  the  desired  opportunity,  he  re 
sumed  his  pen,  and  produced  a  small  tract,  by  way  of  apol 
ogy  or  explanation  of  "  The  Sandy  Foundation  Shaken." 
This  he  entitled  "  Innocency  with  her  open  Face."  In  that 
tract  he  reviewed  the  subjects  discussed  in  the  former,  and 
explained  himself  more  clearly  on  some  points  which  had 
been  misunderstood. 

Of  the  cause  of  his  confinement,  he  remarks : 
"  That  which  I  am  credibly  informed  to  be  the  greatest 
reason  for  my  imprisonment,  and  that  noise  of  blasphemy 
which  hath  pierced  so  many  ears  of  late,  is  my  denying 
the  Divinity  of  Christ,  and  divesting  Him  of  his  eternal 
Godhead ;  which  most  busily  hath  been  suggested,  as  well 
to  those  in  authority  as  maliciously  insinuated  amongst 
the  people."  He  then  enters  into  an  argument  of  con 
siderable  length,  to  prove  the  Godhead  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  he  thus  concludes:  "In  short,  this  conclusive  argu 
ment  for  the  proof  of  Christ,  the  Saviour's,  being  God, 
'  should  certainly  persuade  all  sober  persons  of  my  inno- 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  39 

ce-ncy,  and  my  adversaries'  malice.  He  that  is  the  ever 
lasting1  Wisdom,  Divine  Power,  the  true  Light,  the  only 
Saviour,  the  creating-  Word  of  all  things,  whether  visible 
or  invisible,  and  their  upholder  by  his  own  power,  is, 
without  contradiction,  God ;  but  all  these  qualifications, 
and  Divine  properties,  are,  by  the  concurrent  testimonies 
of  Scripture,  ascribed  to  the  LoM  Jesus  Christ ;  there 
fore,  without  a  scruple,  I  call  and  believe  Him  really  to 
be  the  mighty  God." 

On  the  other  points,  he  says :  "  However  positively  I 
may  reject  my  adversaries'  unscriptural  and  imaginary 
satisfaction,  let  all  know  this,  that  I  pretend  to  know  no 
other1  name  by  which  remission,  atonement,  and  salvation 
can  be  obtained,  but  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour,  who  is  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  God."  "  As  for  justification  by  an 
imputed  righteousness,  I  still  say,  that  whosoever  believes 
in  Christ,  shall  have  remission  and  justification  ;  but  then 
it  must  be  such  a  faith  as  can  no  more  live  without  works 
than  a  body  without  a  spirit ;  wherefore  I  conclude  that 
true  faith  comprehends  evangelical  obedience." 

His  belief  is  summed  up  in  the  following  declaration : 
"  I  sincerely  own,  and  unfeignedly  believe,  by  virtue  of 
the  sound  knowledge  and  experience  received  from  the 
gift  of  that  holy  unction  and  Divine  grace,  inspired  from 
on  high,  in  one  holy,  just,  merciful,  Almighty,  and  eter 
nal  God,  who  is  the  Father  of  all  things ;  who  appeared 
to  the  holy  patriarchs  and  prophets  of  old  at  sundry 
times  and  in  divers  manners ;  and  in  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  everlasting  Wisdom,  Divine  Power,  true 
Light,  only  Saviour  and  preserver  of  all ;  the  same  one 
holy,  just,  Almighty,  and  eternal  God  who  in  the  fulness 


40  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

of  time  took  and  was  manifest  in  the  flesh.  At  which 
time  He  preached,  and  his  disciples  after  Him,  the  everlast 
ing  Gospel  of  repentance,  and  promise  of  remission  of 
sins  and  eternal  life  to  all  that  heard  and  obeyed ;  who 
said,  '  He  that  is  with  you  (in  the  flesh)  shall  be  in  you ' 
(by  the  spirit)  ;  and  though  He  left  them  as  to  the  flesh, 
yet  not  comfortless,  for  He  would  come  to  them  again,  in 
the  spirit:  for  a  little  while  and  they  should  not  see  Him 
as  to  the  flesh;  again  a  little  while  they  should  see  Him 
in  the  spirit:  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  that  Spirit,  a 
manifestation  whereof  is  given  to  every  one  to  profit 
withal.  In  which  Holy  Spirit  I  believe  as  the  same  Al 
mighty  and  eternal  God  ;  who,  as  in  those  times  He  elided 
all  shadows,  and  became  the  infallible  guide  to  them  that 
walked  therein*;  by  which  they  were  adopted  heirs  and 
co-heirs  of  glory  ;  so  am  I  a  living  witness,  that  the  same 
holy,  just,  merciful,  Almighty,  and  eternal  God,  is  now, 
as  then  (after  this  tedious  night  of  idolatry,  superstition, 
and  human  inventions,  that  hath  overspread  the  world), 
gloriously  manifested  to  discover  and  save  from  all  in 
iquity,  and  to  conduct  unto  the  holy  land  of  pure  and 
endless  peace  ;  in  a  word,  to  tabernacle  among  men.  And 
I  also  firmly  believe,  that  without  repenting  and  forsaking 
of  past  sins,  and  walking  in  obedience  to  his  heavenly 
voice,  which  would  guide  into  all  truth  and  establish 
there,  remission  and  eternal  life  can  never  be  obtained ; 
but  them  that  fear  his  name  and  keep  his  command 
ments,  they,  and  they  only,  shall  have  right  unto  the  tree 
of  life.n 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  this  work  the  author  was 
discharged  from  the  Tower,  after  being  detained  there  upon 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN  N.  41 

terms  of  unusual  severity.  His  discharge  came  suddenly 
from  the  king,  who  had  been  moved  to  it  by  the  interces 
sion  of  the  Duke  of  York.  Whether  the  father  of  William 
Perm  applied  to  the  duke  for  his  interference,  or  whether 
the  act  was  spontaneous  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  is  not 
now  known.  It  is,  however,  understood  that  his  enlarge 
ment  was  owing  to  the  friendly  offices  of  the  duke.  This 
and  other  acts  of  kindness  are  sufficient  to  explain  the 
reason  of  William  Penn's  friendship  for  James  when  he 
became  involved  in  trouble. 

The  following  notes  are  from  a  fragment  of  Penn's 
autobiography,  preserved  in  his  own  handwriting,  and 
published  in  the  memoirs  of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania  : 

"  The  first  time  I  went  to  court  after  I  had  embraced 
the  communion  I  am  of  was  in  ?68.  The  business  that 
engaged  me  was  the  suffering  condition  of  my  Friends  in 
several  parts  of  this  kingdom,  the  cause  of  it  tenderness 
of  conscience,  no  evil  fact.  Those  in  company  with  me 
were  George  Whitehead,  Josiah  Cole,  and  Thomas  Loe. 
The  person  went  to  was  the  Duke  of  Buckingham ;  but 
an  application  at  that  time  did  not  answer  our  expecta 
tion,  though  in  his  own  inclination  he  favored  liberty  of 
conscience. 

"  The  second  time  I  went  to  court,  was  the  same  sum 
mer,  and  upon  the  same  errand,  in  company  of  G.  White- 
head  and  Josiah  Cole.  We  addressed  ourselves  to  Sir 
Henry  Berwick,  then  Secretary  of  State,  with  whom  our 
business  had  no  better  success  than  before.  I  was  much 
toucht  with  the  sense  of  our  Friends'  many  and  great 
hardships,  and  the  more  for  that  they  were  inflicted  in  a 
4* 


42  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

Protestant  country,  and  came  from  Protestant  hands,  and 
could  not  but  think  the  severities  they  lay  under,  for  mere 
conscience  to  God,  must  necessarily  bring  the  very  Prot 
estant  religion  under  scandal  abroad.  Being  Protestants 
in  all  those  points  wherein  the  very  Church  of  England 
might  claim  that  title,  and  whose  main  point  was  a  strict 
and  holy  life,  this  made  it  seem  reasonable  and  requisite 
to  me  to  make  their  sufferings  and  them  better  known  to 
those  in  authority ;  charitably  hoping  that  if  they  would 
give  themselves  the  leisure  to  be  truly  informed  of  both, 
they  would  afford  them  better  quarter  in  their  own  coun 
try  than  stocks,  whips,  gaols,  dungeons,  praemunires, 
fines,  sequestrations,  and  banishment,  for  their  peaceable 
dissent  in  matters  relative  to  faith  and  worship ;  and 
accordingly  I  had  framed  a  scheme  to  myself  for  that 
purpose.  But  it  so  fell  out,  that  towards  the  close  of  tliat 
year  I  was  made  incapable  of  prosecuting  the  resolution  I 
had  taken,  and  the  plan  I  had  laid  of  this  affair,  by  a  close 
and  long  imprisonment  in  the  Tower  of  London,  for  a 
book  I  writ  called  '  The  Sandy  Foundation  Shaken,'  occa 
sioned  by  some  reflections  upon  us  and  our  principles  by 
one  Tho.  Vincent,  a  dissenting  minister,  because  some  of 
his  congregation  inclined  to  be  of  our  persuasion. 

"  I  was  committed  the  beginning  of  December,  and  was 
not  discharged  till  the  fall  of  the  leaf  following  ;  wanting 
about  fourteen  days  of  nine  months. 

"As  I  saw  very  few,  so  I  saw  them  but  seldom,  except 
my  own  father  and  Dr.  Stillingfleet,  the  present  Bishop 
of  Worcester.  The  one  came  as  my  relation,  the  other  at 
the  king's  command,  to  endeavor  my  change  of  judgment. 
But  as  I  told  him,  and  he  told  the  king,  that  the  Tower 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  43 

was  the  worst  argument  in  the  world  to  convince  me ; 
for  whoever  was  in  the  wrong,  those  who  used  force  for 
religion  never  could  be  in  the  right;  so  neither  the  Doc 
tor's  arguments,  nor  his  moving  and  interesting  motives 
of  the  king's  favor  and  preferment,  at  all  prevailed  ;  and 
I  am  glad  I  have  the  opportunity  to  own  so  publicly  the 
great  pains  he  took  and  humanity  he  showed,  and  that  to 
his  moderation,  learning,  and  kindness  I  will  ever  hold 
myself  obliged." 


44  PASSAGES    FKOM    THE    LIFE 


III. 

WHILE  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  William  Penn  wrote 
a  work  entitled  "NO  CROSS,  NO  CROWN,"  from 
which  we  take  some  passages  illustrative  of  its  character. 

READER  : — The  great  business  of  man's  life  is  to  answer 
the  end  for  which  he  lives,  that  is,  to  glorify  God  and  save 
his  own  soul.  As  one  knowing  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  I 
persuade  thee  to  be  serious,  diligent,  and  fervent  about  thy 
own  salvation.  As  one  knowing  the  comfort,  peace,  joy,  a  nd 
pleasure  of  the  ways  of  righteousness  I  exhort  and  mvit<- 
thee  to  embrace  the  reproofs  and  convictions  of  Christ's 
light  and  spirit  in  thine  own  conscience,  and  bear  the  judg 
ment  of  thy  sin.  The  fire  burns  but  the  stubble  ;  the  wind 
blows  only  the  chaff.  Yield  thy  body,  soul,  and  spirit  to 
Him  who  maketh  all  things  new — new  heavens  and  new 
earth,  new  love,  new  joy,  new  peace,  new  works,  a  new 
life  and  conversation. 

Christ's  cross  is  Christ's  way  to  Christ's  crown.  This 
is  the  subject  of  the  following  discourse,  first  written  during 
my  confinement  in  the  Tower  of  London  in  the  year  lf>(>8, 
now  reprinted  with  great  enlargement  of  matter  and  tes 
timonies,  that  thou  mayest  be  won  to  Christ,  or  if  won 
already,  brought  nearer  to  Him.  It  is  a  path  which  God 
in  his  everlasting  kindness  guided  my  feet  into,  in  the 
flower  of  my  youth,  when  about  two  and  twenty  years 


OFWILLIAMPENN.  45 

of  age.  He  took  me  by  the  hand  and  led  me  out  of  the 
pleasures,  vanities,  and  hopes  of  the  world.  I  have  tasted 
of  Christ's  judgments,  and  of  his  mercies,  and  of  the 
world's  frowns  and  reproaches.  I  rejoice  in  my  experi 
ence,  and  dedicate  it  to  thy  service  in  Christ. 

THOUGH  THE  knowledge  and  obedience  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  cross  of  Christ  be  of  infinite  moment  to  the  souls 
of  men,  being  the  only  door  to  true  Christianity  and  the 
path  which  the  ancients  ever  trod  to  blessedness,  yet  it  is 
little  understood,  much  neglected,  and  bitterly  contradicted, 
by  the  vanity,  superstition,  and  intemperance  of  professed 
Christians. 

The  unmortified  Christian  and  the  heathen  are  of  the 
same  religion,  and  the  deity  they  truly  worship  is  the  god 
of  this  world.  What  shall  we  cat  ?  What  shall  we  drink  ? 
What  shall  we  wear  ?  And  how  shall  we  pass  away  our 
time  ?  Which  way  may  we  gather  wealth,  increase  our 
power,  enlarge  our  territories,  and  dignify  and  perpetuate 
our  names  and  families  in  the  earth  ?  It  is  a  mournful 
reflection,  but  a  truth  which  will  not  be  denied,  that  these 
worldly  lusts  fill  up  a  great  part  of  the  study,  care,  and 
conversation  of  Christendom. 

The  false  notion  that  they  may  be  children  of  God  while 
in  a  state  of  disobedience  to  his  holy  commandments,  and 
disciples  of  Jesus  though  they  revolt  from  his  cross,  and 
members  of  his  true  church,  which  is  'without  spot  or 
wrinkle,  notwithstanding  their  lives  are  full  of  spots  and 
wrinkles,  is  of  all  other  deceptions  upon  themselves  the 
most  pernicious  to  their  eternal  condition.  For  they  are 
at  peace  in  sin  and  under  a  security  in  their  transgression, 


46  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

Their  vain  hope  silences  their  convictions,  and  overlays 
all  tender  motions  to  repentance ;  so  that  their  mistake 
about  their  duty  to  God  is  as  mischievous  as  their  rebellion 
against  Him.  Thus  they  walk  on  precipices  and  natter 
themselves,  till  the  grave  swallows  them  up  and  the  judg 
ment  of  the  great  God  breaks  the  lethargy. 

O  Christendom !  niy  soul  most  fervently  prays  that 
after  all  thy  lofty  professions  of  Christ  and  his  meek  and 
holy  religion,  thy  unsuitable  and  unchristlike  life  may  not 
cast  thee  at  that  great  assize  of  the  world  and  lose  thee 
this  great  salvation  at  last.  Can  Christ  be  thy  Lord  and* 
thou  not  obey  Him  ?  He  is  none  of  thy  Saviour  whilst 
thou  rejectest  his  grace  in  thy  heart,  by  which  He  would 
save  thee.  Has  He  saved  thee  from  thy  sinful  lusts,  thy 
worldly  affections,  and  vain  conversations  ?  If  not,  then 
He  is  none  of  thy  Saviour.  For  though  He  be  offered  a 
Saviour  for  all,  yet  He  is  actually  a  Saviour  to  those  only 
who  are  saved  by  Him. ;  and  none  are  saved  by  Him  who 
live  in  those  evils  by  which  they  are  lost  from  God,  and 
which  He  came  to  save  them  from. 

It  is  from  sin  that  Christ  is  come  to  save  man,  and  from 
death  and  wrath  as  the  wages  of  it.  So  far  as  people  ob 
tain  victory  over  those  evil  dispositions  and  fleshly  lusts 
to  which  they  have  been  addicted,  so  far  they  are  truly 
saved,  and  are  witnesses  of  the  redemption  that  comes  by 
Jesus  Christ.  His  name  shows  his  work:  "And  thou 
shalt  call  his  name  Jesus,  for  He  shall  save  his  people  from 
their  sins."  "  Behold,"  said  John  of  Christ,  "the  Lamb 
of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world !  " 

BECAUSE  THERE  is  mercy  with  the  God  of  compassion, 
that  He  may  be  feared,  He  has  sent  forth  his  feon,  a  pro- 


.OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  47 

pitiation,  and  given  Him  a  Saviour  to  take  away  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world,  that  those  who  believe  and  follow 
Him  may  feel  the  righteousness  of  God  in  the  remission 
of  their  sins,  and  the  blotting  out  of  their  transgressions 
forever.  Behold  the  remedy  I  an  .infallible  cure,  one  of 
God's  appointing. 

But  thou  wilt  say,  what  is  Christ,  where  is  He  to  be 
found,  and  how  received,  and  applied,  in  order  to  this 
mighty  cure  ?  First,  He  is  the  great  spiritual  Light  of 
the  world,  who  enlightens  every  one  that  comes  into  the 
world ;  by  which  He  manifests  to  them  their  deeds  of 
darkness  and  wickedness,  and  reproves  them  for  commit 
ting  them.  Secondly,  He  is  not  far  away  from  thee. 
Christ  himself  sa}Ts,  "  Behold  I  stand  at  the  door  and 
knock;  if  any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I 
will  come  in  to  him,  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 
What  door  can  this  be,  but  that  of  the  heart  of  man? 
Like  the  inn  of  old  thou  hast  been  full  of  other  guests ; 
there  has  been  no  room  for  thy  Saviour  in  thy  soul. 
Wherefore  salvation  is  not  yet  come  into  thy  house, 
though  it  is  come  to  thy  door,  and  thou  hast  often  been 
proffered  it,  and  hast  professed  it  long. 

Wherefore,  0  Christendom!  believe,  receive,  and  apply 
to  Him  rightly  ;  this  is  of  absolute  necessity,  that  thy 
soul  may  live  forever  with  Him.  He  told  the  Jews,  "  If 
you  believe  not  that  I  am  He,  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins ; 
and  whither  I  go,  ye  cannot  come."  So  I  say  to  thee, 
unless  thou  believest  that  He  who  stands  at  the  door  of 
thy  heart  and  knocks,  and  sets  thy  sins  in  order  before 
thee,  and  calls  thee  to  repentance,  be  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  thou  wilt  die  in  thy  sins,  and  where  He  is  gone, 


48  PASSAGES    FEOM    THE    L1.FE 

tliou  wilt  never  come.  For  if  thou  believest  not  in  Him, 
it  is  impossible  that  He  should  do  thee  good,  or  effect  thy 
salvation.  Christ  works  not  against  faith,  but  by  it. 

It  is  the  nature  of  true  faith  to  beget  an  holy  fear  of 
offending  God,  a  deep  reverence  for  his  precepts,  and  a 
most  tender  regard  to  the  inward  testimony  of  his  Spirit, 
as  that  by  which  his  children,  in  all  ages,  have  been  safely 
led  to  glory.  Those  who  receive  Him  thus,  receive  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God ;  that  is,  an  inward  force  and 
ability  to  do  whatever  He  requires.  Strength  to  mortify 
their  lusts,  control  their  affections,  resist  evil  motions, 
deny  themselves,  and  overcome  the  world  in  its  most  en 
ticing  appearances.  This  is  the  life  of  the  blessed  cross 
of  Christ,  which  is  the  subject  of  the  following  discourse, 
and  what  thou,  0  man,  must  take  up,  if  thou  intendest 
to  be  the  disciple  of  Jesus.  Nor  canst  thou  be  said  to 
receive  Christ,  or  believe  in  Him,  whilst  thou  rejectest 
his  cross.  For  as  receiving  Christ  is  the  means  appointed 
of  God  to  salvation,  so  bearing  the  daily  cross  after  Him 
is  the  only  true  testimony  of  receiving  Him ;  and,  there 
fore,  it  is  enjoined  by  Him  as  the  great  token  of  disciple- 
ship,  "If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me."  This, 
Christendom,  is  what  thou  hast  so  much  wanted,  and  the 
want  of  it  has  proved  the  cause  of  thy  miserable  declen 
sion  from  pure  Christianity. 

The  work  of  apostleship,  we  are  told  by  a  prime  laborer 
in  it,  was  to  turn  people  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from 
the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  For  this  blessed  work  of 
reformation,  Christ  endued  his  apostles  with  his  spirit  and 
power,  that  so  men  might  no  longer  sleep  in  a  security  of 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  49 

sin.  and  ignorance  of  God,  but  awaken  to  righteousness, 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  might  give  them  life.  And  truly 
God  so  blessed  the  faithful  labors  of  these  poor  mechanics, 
his  great  ambassadors  to  mankind,  that,  in  a  few  years, 
many  thousands  who  had  lived  without  God  in  the  world, 
were  inwardly  struck  and  quickened  by  the  word  of  life, 
and  made  sensible  of  the  coming  and  power  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  a  Judge  and  Lawgiver  in  their  souls. 

By  his  holy  light  and  Spirit,  the  hidden  things  of 
darkness  were  brought  to  light  and  condemned,  and  pure 
repentance  from  those  dead  works  begotten  in  them,  that 
they  might  serve  the  living  God  in  newness  of  spirit. 
Thenceforward  they  lived  not  to  themselves,  neither  were 
they  carried  away  of  those  former  lusts  by  which  they 
had  been  seduced  from  the  true  fear  of  God  ;  and  by  holy 
watchfulness  against  the  secret  motions  of  evil  in  their 
hearts,  they  crashed  sin  in  its  conception,  yea,  in  its 
temptations.  So  that,  as  the  apostle  John  advises,  they 
kept  themselves,  that  the  evil  one  touched  them  not. 
Thus  it  was,  that  where  once  nothing  was  examined,  no 
thing  went  unexamined.  Every  thought  must  come  to 
judgment,  and  the  rise  and  tendency  of  it  be  wrell  approved 
before  they  allowed  it  any  room  in  their  minds. 

While  this  integrity  dwelt  with  Christians,  mighty  was 
the  presence,  and  invincible  the  power,  that  attended  them. 
It  quenched  fire,  daunted  lions,  turned  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  out-faced  instruments  of  cruelty,  convicted  judges, 
and  converted  executioners.  Now,  not  a  vain  thought, 
nor  an  idle  wrord,  nor  an  unseemly  action,  was  permitted ; 
no  ;  not  an  immodest  look.  jSTo  courtly  dress,  gay  apparel, 
complimental  respects,  or  personal  honors  ;  much  less  couid 
5  D 


50  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

those  lewd  immoralities  and  scandalous  vices,  now  in  vogue 
with  Christians,  find  either  example  or  connivance  among 
them.  Their  care  was,  not  how  to  sport  away  their  precious 
time,  but  how  to  redeem  it,  that  they  might  have  enough 
to  work  out  their  great  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling. 
Having,  with  Moses,  seen  Him  that  is  invisible,  and  found 
that  his  loving-kindness  was  better  than  life,  and  the  peace 
of  his  Spirit  than  the  favor  of  princes ;  as  they  feared  not 
Caesar's  wrath,  so  they  chose  rather  to  sustain  the  afflictions 
of  Christ's  true  pilgrims  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin, 
that  were  but  for  a  season ;  esteeming  his  reproaches  of 
more  value  than  the  perishing  treasures  of  the  earth. 

By  this  short  view  of  what  Christendom  was,  thou 
mayest  see,  0  Christendom,  what  thou  art  not,  and  what 
thou  oughtest  to  be.  I  lay  this  down  as  the  undoubted  rea 
son  of  this  degeneracy,  to  wit :  the  disregard  of  thy  mind 
to  the  light  of  Christ  shining  in  thee,  that  first  showed 
thee  thy  sins,  and  reproved  them,  and  taught  and  enabled 
thce  to  deny  and  resist  them.  So  when  thou  didst  begin 
to  disregard  that  light  and  grace,  to  be  careless  about  that 
holy  watch  that  was  once  set  up  in  thine  heart,  and  didst 
not  keep  sentinel  there  as  formerly  for  God's  glory  and  thy 
own  peace,  the  restless  enemy  of  man's  good  quickly  took 
advantage  of  this  slackness. 

Thou  didst  decline  to  audit  accounts  in  thy  own  con 
science  with  Christ,  thy  light,  the  great  bishop  of  thy  soul, 
and  judge  of  thy  works,  whereby  the  holy  fear  decayed 
and  love  waxed  cold,  vanity  abounded  and  duty  became 
burdensome.  Then  up  came  formality  instead  of  the  power 
of  godliness,  superstition  in  place  of  Christ's  institution, 
and,  although  Christ's  business  was  to  draw  off  the  minds 


OF    WILLIAM    PENtf.  51 

of  his  disciples  from  an  outward  temple,  and  carnal  rites 
and  services,  to  the  inward  and  spiritual  worship  of  God, 
suitable  to  the  nature  of  divinity,  a  worldly,  human,  pomp 
ous  worship  is  brought  in  again,  and  a  worldly  priesthood, 
temple,  and  altar  re-established.  Those  worldly  pleasures, 
that  make  such  as  love  them  forget  God,  though  once 
despised  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  began  now  to  recover  their 
old  beauty  and  interest  in  thy  affections.  Thy  heart  grow 
ing  carnal,  thy  religion  did  so  too ;  and, -not  liking  it  as  it 
was,  thou  fashionedst  it  to  thy  liking.  So  that  a  man  may 
say  with  truth,  thy  condition  is  made  worse  by  thy  religion, 
because'  thou  art  tempted  to  think  thyself  the  better  for  it 
and  art  not. 

At  the  door  by  which  thou  wentest  out  thou  must  come 
in ;  and  as  letting  fall  and  forbearing  the  daily  cross  lost 
thee,  so  taking  up  and  enduring  the  daily  cross  must  re 
cover  thee.  K"o  crown  but  by  the  cross,  no  life  eternal 
but  through  death.  And  it  is  but  just  that  those  evil  and 
barbarous  affections  that  crucified  Christ  afresh  should  by 
his  holy  cross  be  crucified.  Blood  requires  blood  ;  his  cross 
is  the  death  of  sin,  that  caused  his  death ;  and  He  is  the 
death  of  death,  according  to  that  passage,  0  death  1  I  will 
be  thy  death  1 

THE  CROSS  OF  Christ  is  a  figurative  speech,  borrowed 
from  the  wooden  cross,  on  which  Christ  submitted  to  the 
wTill  of  God.  The  cross  mystical  is  that  divine  grace  and 
power  which  crosses  the  carnal  wills  of  men,  their  corrupt 
affections  and  fleshly  appetites;  and  so  may  be  justly 
termed  the  instrument  of  man's  holy  dying  to  the  world, 
and  being  made  conformable  to  the  will  of  God. 

The  preaching  of  the  cross  was  fitly  called  by  Paul  the 


52  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

power  of  God,  though  to  them  that  perish,  it  was  then,  ag 
now,  foolishness.  That  is,  to  those  Avho  were  truly  weary 
and  heavy  laden,  and  needed  a  deliverer,  to  whom  sin  was 
burdensome  and  odious ;  the  preaching-  of  the  cross  by 
which  sin  was  to  be  mortified,  was  the  power  of  God,  or 
a  preaching  of  the  divine  power,  by  which  they  wore 
made  disciples  of  Christ  and  children  of  God.  But  to 
those  who  walked  in  the  broad  way,  in  the  full  latitude 
of  their  lusts,  and  dedicated  their  time  and  care  to  the 
pleasure  of  their  corrupt  appetites,  to  whom  all  yoke  and 
bridle  were  intolerable,  the  preaching  of  the  cross  was 
foolishness. 

Where  does  this  cross  appear,  and  where  must  it  be 
taken  up  ?  I  answer,  within :  that  is,  in  the  heart  and 
soul.  The  heart  of  man  is  the  seat  of  sin,  and  where  he 
is  defiled,  he  must  be  sanctified  ;  and  where  sin  lives,  there 
it  must  die,  it  must  be  crucified.  The  enemy's  temptations 
are  ever  directed  to  the  mind,  which  is  within.  If  they 
take  not,  the  soul  sins  not ;  if  they  arc  embraced,  lust  is 
presently  conceived,  that  is,  inordinate  desires  ;  "  lust  con 
ceived,  brings  forth  sin  ;  and  sin  finished,  that  is,  acted, 
brings  forth  death." 

In  the  next  place,  how,  and  in  what  manner,  is  the  cross 
to  be  daily  borne  ?  The  way,  like  the  cross,  is  spiritual. 
It  is  an  inward  submission  of  the  soul  to  the  will  of  God, 
as  it  is  manifested  by  the  light  of  Christ  in  the  consciences 
of  men,  though  it  be  contrary  to  their  own  inclinations. 
The  way  is  narrow  indeed,  and  the  gate  very  strait,  where 
not  a  word,  no,  not  a  thought,  must  slip  the  watch,  or 
escape  judgment.  Such  circumspection,  such  caution, 
such  patience,  such  constancy,  such  holy  fear  and  trem- 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  53 

bling,  give  an  easy  interpretation  to  that  hard  saying, 
"Flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 
Those  who  arc  captivated  with  fleshly  lusts  and  affections, 
for  they  cannot  bear  the  cross  ;  and  they  that  cannot 
endure  the  cross,  must  never  have  the  crown. 

THE  GREAT  WORK  and  business  of  the  cross  of  Christ  in 
man  is  self-denial,  a  word  of  much  depth  in  itself,  and  of 
sore  contradiction  to  the  world,  little  understood,  but  less 
embraced  by  it,  which  yet  must  be  borne.  The  Son  of 
God  is  gone  before  us,  and  by  the  bitter  cup  He  drank,  and 
the  baptism  He  suffered,  has  left  us  an  example  that  we 
should  follow  his  steps. 

What  was  the  cup  He  drank,  and  baptism  He  suffered  ? 
I  answer  :  they  were  the  denial  and  offering  up  of  himself 
by  the  eternal  Spirit  to  the  wrill  of  God,  undergoing  the 
tribulations  of  his  life  and  agonies  of  his  death  upon  the 
cross  for  man's  salvation. 

What  is  our  cup  and  cross  that  we  should  drink  and 
suffer  ?  They  are  the  denying  and  offering  up  of  our 
selves,  by  the  same  spirit,  to  do  or  suffer  the  will  of  God 
for  his  service  and  glory.  This  is  the  true  life  and  obe 
dience  of  the  cross  of  Jesus  ;  narrow  still,  but  before,  an 
unbeaten  way.  When  there  was  none  to  help,  not  one  to 
open  the  seals,  to  give  knowledge,  or  to  direct  the  course 
of  poor  man's  recovery,  He  came  in  the  greatness  of  his 
love  and  strength ;  and  though  clothed  with  the  infirm 
ities  of  a  mortal  man,  being  within  fortified  by  the  Al- 
mightiness  of  an  immortal  God,  he  travelled  through  all 
the  straits  and  difficulties  of  humanity ;  and,  first  of  all 
others,  trod  the  untrodden  path  to  blessedness. 

It  is  this  most  perfect  pattern  of  self-denial  we  must 


54  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

follow,  if  ever  we  will  come  to  glory.  To  do  this,  let  U9 
consider  self-denial  in  its  true  distinction  and  extent. 
There  is  a  lawful  and  an  unlawful  self,  and  both  must  be 
denied  for  the  sake  of  Him  who,  in  submission  to  the  will 
of  God,  counted  nothing  dear  that  He  might  save  us. 

The  lawful  self  which  we  are  to  deny,  is  that  conveni- 
ency,  ease,  enjoyment,  and  plenty,  which  in  themselves 
are  so  far  from  being  evil,  that  they  arc  the  bounty  and 
blessings  of  God  to  us — as  husband,  wife,  child,  house, 
land,  reputation,  liberty,  and  life  itself.  These  are  God's 
favors,  which  we  may  enjoy  with  lawful  pleasure,  and 
justly  improve  as  our  honest  interest.  But  when  God 
requires  them,  at  what  time  soever,  or  is  pleased  to  try 
our  affections  by  our  parting  with  them ;  I  say,  when 
they  are  brought  in  competition  with  Him,  they  must  not 
be  preferred,  but  denied.  Christ  himself  descended  from 
the  glory  of  his  Father,  and  willingly  made  Ilin^clf  of 
no  reputation  among  men,  that  He  might  make  us  of  some 
-with  God. 

It  is  the  doctrine  He  teaches  us  in  these  words:  "He 
that  loveth  father  or  mother,  son  or  daughter,  more  than 
me,  is  not  worthy  of  me."  It  is  the  condition  to  eternal 
happiness:  "He  that  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me." 

It  is  not  for  nought  that  the  disciples  of  Jesus  deny 
themselves;  and,  indeed,  Christ  himself  had  the  eternal 
joy  in  his  eye.  For  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him, 
says  the  author  to  the  Hebrews,  He  endured  the  cross. 
"And  every  one  that  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren, 
or  sisters,  or  father  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or 
lands,  for  my  name's  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundred-fold, 


OFWILLIAMPENN.  55 

and  shall  inherit  everlasting  life."  It  is  this  recompense 
of  reward,  this  eternal  crown  of  righteousness  which,  in 
every  age,  has  raised  in  the  souls  of  the  just  an  holy 
neglect,  yea,  contempt  of  the  world. 

]Sfor  is  this  a  new  doctrine ;  it  is  as  old  as  Abraham. 
God  often  touches  our  best  comforts,  and  calls  for  that 
which  we  most  love,  and  are  least  willing  to  part  with. 
Xot  that  He  always  takes  it  utterly  away,  but  to  prove 
the  soul's  integrity,  to  caution  us  from  excesses,  and  that 
we  may  remember  Him,  the  Author  of  those  blessings  we 
possess,  and  live  loose  to  them.  I  speak  my  experience. 
The  way  to  keep  our  enjoyments  is  to  resign  them ;  and 
though  that  be  hard,  it  is  sweet  to  see  them  returned,  as 
Isaac  was  to  his  father,  with  more  love  and  blessings 
than  before. 

THAT'  UNLAWFUL  self  in  religion,  which  ought  to  be  mor 
tified  by  the  cross  of  Christ,  is  man's  invention  and  per 
formance  of  worship  to  God,  as  divine,  which  is  not  so, 
either  in  its  institution  or  performance.  In  this  great 
error,  those  people  take  the  lead,  who  attribute  to  them 
selves  the  name  of  Christians,  and  are  most  exterior, 
pompous,  and  superstitious  in  their  worship.  Instead 
of  excluding  flesh  and  blood,  behold  a  worship  calculated 
to  gratify  them;  as  if  the  business  were  not  to  present 
God  with  a  worship  to  please  Him,  but  to  make  one  to 
please  themselves.  A  worship  dressed  with  stately  build 
ing's  and  imagery,  rich  furniture  and  garments,  rare  voices 
and  music,  costly  lamps,  wax  candles,  and  perfumes. 

Christ  drew  off  his  disciples  from  the  glory  and  wor 
ship  of  the  oitward  temple,  and  instituted  a  more  inward 
and  spiritual  worship,  in  which  He  instructed  his  follow- 


56  PASSAGES    PROM    THE    LIFE 

ers.  God  is  a  spirit,  and  He  will  be  worshipped  in  spirit 
and  in  truth.  It  is  not  that  bodily  worship,  nor  these 
ceremonious  services  in  use  among  you  now,  that  will 
serve,  or  give  acceptance  with  this  God  who  is  a  spirit. 

God's  presence  is  not  with  the  house,  but  with  them 
that  are  in  it,  who  are  the  Gospel  church  and  not  the 
house.  Oh!  that  such  as  call  themselves  Christians  knew 
but  a  real  sanctity  in  themselves,  by  the  washing  of  God's 
regenerating  grace  instead  of  that  imaginary  sanctity 
ascribed  to  places  ;  they  would  then  know  what  the  church 
is,  and  where,  in  these  evangelical  days,  is  the  place  of 
God's  appearance.  This  made  the  prophet  David  say, 
"  The  king's  daughter  is  all  glorious  within  ;  her  clothing 
is  of  wrought  gold."  What  is  the  glory  that  is  within  the 
true  church,  and  that  gold  which  makes  up  that  inwurd 
glory?  Tell  me,  oh,  superstitious  man!  is  it  thy  stately 
temples,  altars,  carpets,  tables,  tapestries;  thy  vestment*, 
organs,  voices,  candles,  lamps,  censers,  plate,  and  jewels, 
with  the  like  furniture  of  thy  worldly  temples  ? 

Nor  is  a  recluse  life,  the  boasted  righteousness  of  some, 
much  more  commendable,  or  one  whit  nearer  to  the  nature 
of  the  true  cross.  The  Christian  convent  and  monastery 
are  within,  where  the  soul  is  encloistered  from  sin.  And 
this  religious  house  the  true  followers  of  Christ  carry  about 
with  them,  who  exempt  not  themselves  from  the  conver 
sation  of  the  world,  though  they  keep  themselves  from  the 
evil  of  the  world  in  their  conversation. 

The  inward,  steady  righteousness  of  Jesus  is  another 
thing  than  all  the  contrived  devotion  of  poor  superstitious 
man ;  and  to  stand  approved  in  the  sight  of  God  excels 
that  bodily  exercise  in  religion  resulting  from  the  invention 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  57 

of  men.  The  soul  that  is  awakened  and  preserved  by  hi3 
holy  power  and  Spirit,  lives  to  Him  in  the  way  of  his  own 
institution,  and  worships  Him  in  his  own  Spirit ;  that  is, 
in  the  holy  sense,  life,  and  leadings  of  it,  which,  indeed,  is 
the  evangelical  worship.  Not  that  I  would  be  thought  to 
slight  a  true  retirement ;  for  I  do  not  only  acknowledge, 
but  admire,  solitude.  Christ  himself  was  an  example  of 
it ;  He  loved  and  chose  to  frequent  mountains,  gardens, 
sea-sides.  It  is  requisite  to  the  growth  of  piety ;  and  I 
reverence  the  virtue  that  seeks  and  uses  it,  wishing  there 
were  more  of  it  in  the  world ;  but  then  it  should  be  free, 
not  constrained.  For  divine  pleasures  are  found  in  a  free 
solitude. 

IT  is  NOT  performing  duties  of  religion,  but  the  rise  of 
the  performance  that  God  looks  at.  Men  may,  and  some 
do,  cross  their  own  wills  in  their  own  wills,  voluntary 
omission  or  commission.  Not  keeping  to  the  manner  of 
taking  up  the  cross  in  worship,  as  well  as  other  things, 
has  been  a  great  cause  of  the  troublesome  superstition  that 
is  yet  in  the  world. 

True  worship  can  only  come  from  a  heart  prepared  by 
the  Lord.  And  whatever  prayer  be  made,  or  doctrine  be 
uttered,  and  not  from  the  preparation  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
it  is  not  acceptable  with  God ;  nor  can  it  be  the  true  evan 
gelical  worship  which  is  in  spirit  and  truth ;  that  is,  by 
the  preparation  and  aid  of  the  Spirit.  '  For  what  is  a  heap 
of  the  most  pathetical  words  to  God  Almighty,  or  the 
dedication  of  any  place  or  time  to  Him  ?  He  is  a  spirit, 
to  whom  words,  places,  and  times,  strictly  considered,  are 
improper  or  inadequate.  Though  they  be  the  instruments 
of  public  worship,  they  are  but  bodily  and  visible,  and 


58  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

cannot  carry  our  requests  any  further,  much  less  recom 
mend  them  to  the  invisible  God.  They  are  for  the  sake 
of  the  congregation ;  it  is  the  language  of  the  soul  God 
hears ;  nor  can  that  speak  but  by  the  Spirit,  or  groan 
aright  to  Almighty  God  without  the  assistance  of  it. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  how  shall  this  preparation  be  ob 
tained?  I  answer,  by  waiting  patiently,  yet  watchfully 
and  intently,  upon  God.  "  Lord,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "thou 
hast  heard  the  desire  of  the  humble ;  thou  wilt  prepare 
their  heart;  thou  wilt  cause  thine  ear  to  hear."  Thou 
must  not  think  thy  own  thoughts,  nor  speak  thy  own 
words,  which,  indeed,  is  the  silence  of  the  holy  cross,  but 
be  sequestered  from  all  the  confused  imaginations  that  are 
apt  to  throng  and  press  upon  the  mind  in  those  holy  re 
tirements.  Think  not  to  overcome  the  Almighty  by  the 
most  composed  matter  cast  into  the  aptest  phrase.  No ; 
one  groan,  one  sigh,  from  a  wounded  soul,  an  heart  touched 
with  true  remorse,  a  sincere  and  godly  sorrow,  which  is 
the  work  of  God's  Spirit,  excels  and  prevails  with  God. 
Wherefore,  stand  still  in  thy  mind,  wait  to  feel  something 
divine,  to  prepare  and  dispose  thee  to  worship  God  truly 
and  acceptably.  Thus  taking  up  the  cross,  and  shutting 
the  doors  and  windows  of  the  soul  against  everything  that 
would  interrupt  this  attendance  upon  God,  how  pleasant 
soever  the  object  be  in  itself,  or  however  lawful  or  needful 
at  another  season,  the  power  of  the  Almighty  will  break 
in,  his  Spirit  will  prepare  the  heart,  that  it  may  offer  up 
an  acceptable  sacrifice.  It  is  lie  that  discovers  to  the  soul 
its  wants,  and  presses  them  upon  it ;  and  when  it  cries, 
He  alone  can  supply  them.  Petitions  not  springing  from 
such  a  sense  and  preparai  ion,  are  formal  and  fictitious ; 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  59 

they  are  not  true  ;  for  men  pray  in  their  own  blind  desires, 
and  not  in  the  will  of  God  ;  and  his  ear  is  stopped  to  them. 
Bat  for  the  very  sighing  of  the  poor,  and  crying  of  the 
needy,  God  has  said  He  will  arise. 

But  what  is  this  to  them  that  are  not  hungry?  The 
whole  need  not  the  physician ;  the  full  have  no  need  to 
sigh,  nor  the  rich  to  cry  for  help.  Those  who  are  not 
sensible  of  their  inward  wants,  that  have  no  fears  and 
terrors  upon  them,  who  feel  no  need  of  God's  power  to 
help  them,  nor  the  light  of  his  countenance  to  comfort 
them  ;  what  have  such  to  do  with  prayer  ?  Their  devo 
tion  is,  at  best,  but  a  serious  mockery  of  the  Almighty. 
They  know  not,  they  want  not,  they  desire  not,  what 
they  pray  for.  They  pray  that  the  will  of  God  may  be 
done,  and  do  constantly  their  own.  They  ask  for  grace, 
and  abuse  what  they  have ;  they  pray  for  the  Spirit,  but 
resist  it  in  themselves,  and  scorn  at  it  in  others.  They 
request  the  mercies  and  goodness  of  God,  and  feel  no  real 
want  of  them.  In  this  inward  insensibility,  they  are  as 
unable  to  praise  God  for  what  they  have  as  to  pray  for 
what  they  have  not. 

God  himself  speaks,  by  the  mouth  of  Isaiah,  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  formalities  and  lip-worship  of  the  degenerate 
Jews.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  heaven  is  my  throne, 
and  the  earth  is  my  footstool ;  where  is  the  house  that  ye 
build  to  me,  and  where  is  the  place  of  my  rest  ?  for  all 
these  things  hath  my  hand  made.  But  to  this  man  will  I 
look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor,  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and 
trembleth  at  my  word."  Behold  the  true  worshipper !  one 
of  God's  preparing,  circumcised  in  heart  and  ear,  that  re 
sists  not  the  Ebly  Spirit,  as  those  lofty  professing  Jews  did. 


60  PASSAGES    FKOM    THE    LIFE 

Much  might  be  cited  to  show  the  displeasure  of  God 
against  even  his  own  forms  of  worship,  when  performed 
without  his  Spirit,  and  that  necessary  preparation  of  the 
heart  in  man,  which  nothing  else  can  work  or  give.  Above 
all  other  penmen  of  sacred  writ,  this  is  most  frequently  and 
emphatically  recommended  to  us  by  the  example  of  the 
Psalmist,  who,  ever  and  anon,  calling  to  mind  his  own 
great  slips,  and  the  cause  of  them,  and  the  way  by  which 
he  came  to  be  accepted  of  God,  and  obtain  strength  and 
comfort  from  Him,  reminds  himself  to  wait  upon  God. 
"  Lead  me  in  thy  truth,  and  teach  me,  for  thou  art  the 
God  of  my  salvation  ;  on  thee  do  I  wait  all  the  day  long." 
This  shows  an  inward  exercise,  a  spiritual  attendance,  that 
stood  not  in  external  forms,  but  on  inward  divine  aid. 

Another  time,  we  have  him  crying  thus  :  "  As  the  hart 
panteth  after  the  water-brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul  after 
thce,  0  God.  My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  for  the  living 
God ;  when  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  Him?  "  This 
goes  beyond  formality,  and  can  be  tied -to  no  lesson.  We 
may  by  this  see  that  true  worship  is  an  inward  work ; 
that  the  soul  must  be  touched  and  raised  in  heavenly  de 
sires  by  the  heavenly  spirit,  and  that  the  true  worship  is 
in  God's  presence.  "  When  shall  I  come  and  appear  ?  " 
Not  in  the  temple,  nor  with  outward  sacrifices,  but  before 
God,  in  his  presence.  The  souls  of  true  worshippers  see 
God,  make  their  appearance  before  Him  ;  and  for  this  they 
wait,  they  pant,  they  thirst. 

From  his  own  experience  of  the  benefit  of  waiting  upon 
God,  and  the  saints'  practice  of  those  times,  he  recommends 
it  to  others:  "Wait  upon  the  Lord,  be  of  good  courage, 
and  He  shall  strengthen  thy  heart;  wait,  I  bay,  upon  the 


OF    WILLIAM    PENX.  61 

Lord."  Wait  in  faith  and  patience,  and  He  will  come  to 
save  1  hee.  Again,  "  Rest  in  the  Lord,  and  wait  patiently 
upon  Him  ;  "  cast  thyself  upon  Him  ;  be  contented ;  and 
wait  for  Him  to  help  thee  in  thy  wants.  Thou  canst  not 
think  how  near  He  is  to  help  those  that  wait  upon  Him. 

The  prophet  Isaiah  tells  us  that  though  the  chastise 
ments  of  the  Lord  were  sore  upon  the  people  for  their 
backslidings,  yet  in  the  way  of  his  judgments,  in  the 
way  of  his  rebukes  and  displeasure,  they  waited  for  Him, 
and  the  desire  of  their  soul,  that  is  the  great  point,  was 
to  his  name,  and  the  remembrance  of  Him.  They  were 
contented  to  be  chid  and  chastised,  for  they  had  sinned ; 
and  the  knowledge  of  Him  in  this  way  was  very  desira 
ble  to  them.  But  did  He  not  come  at  last,  and  that  in 
mercy,  too  ?  "  Lo,  this  is  our  God,  we  have  waited  for 
Him,  and  He  will  save  us."  O  blessed  enjoyment!  0 
precious  confidence !  Here  was  a  waiting  in  faith  which 
prevailed. 

All  worship  not  in  faith  is  fruitless  to  the  worshipper 
as  well  as  displeasing  to  God.  This  faith  is  the  gift  of 
God,  and  the  nature  of  it  is  to  purify  the  heart,  and  give 
such  as  truly  believe  "  victory  over  the  world."  But  they 
go  on:  "  We  have  waited  for  Him,  we  will  be  glad,  and 
rejoice  in  his  salvation."  The  prophet  adds,  "  Blessed  are 
all  they  that  wait  upon  God :  "  and  why  ?  "  For  they  that 
wait  upon  the  Lord,  shall  renew  their  strength  ;  they  shall 
never  faint,  never  be  weary."  The  encouragement  is 
great  0  hear  Him  once  more  !  "  For  since  the  begin 
ning  }f  the  world,  men  have  not  heard,  nor  perceived  by 
the  ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen,  0  God !  besides  thee, 
what  He  hath  prepared  for  him  thot  waiteth  for  Him  " 
6 


62  P  A  S  H  A  G  E  S     F  ROM    T  1 1  E    I,  I  F  E 

Uohold  the  inward  life  find  joy  of  iho  righteous,  UK;  true 
worshippers!  those  whose  spirits  bowed  to  the  sippesi.ni.in  e 
of  Clod's  spirit  in  them,  leaving  and  forsaking  all  that  it 
appeared  against,  and  embracing  whatever  it  led  them  !<>. 

"  We  know  not,"  says  the  apostle,  "  what  we  should 
pray  for  as  we  ought,  but  the  Spirit  helpeth  our  inlirmi- 
ties."  Men  unacquainted  with  the  work  and  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  are  ignorant  of  the  mind  of  God;  and  those, 
certainly,  can  never  please  Him  with  their  prayers.  It  is 
not  enough  to  know  we  are  in  want ;  ,but  we  should  learn, 
whether  it  bo  not  sent  us  as  a  blessing;  disappointments 
to  the  proud  ;  losses  to  the  covetous,  and  to  the  negligent, 
stripes.  Therefore,  what  to  keep,  what  to  reject,  what  to 
want,  is  a  difficulty  God  only  can  resolve  the  soul.  And 
since  God  knows  better  than  we  what  we  need,  lit;  can 
better  tell  us  what  to  ask  than  wo  can  Him.  This  made 
Christ  exhort  his  disciples  to  avoid  long  and  repetitious 
prayers;  telling  them  that  their  heavenly  Father  knew 
what  they  needed  before  they  asked,  lie  therefore  gavo 
them  a  pattern  to  pray  by  ;  not  as  some  fancy  to  be  a  text 
to  human  liturgies,  which  of  all  services  are  most  justly 
noted  and  taxed  for  length  and  repetition ;  but  expressly 
to  reprove  and  avoid  them. 

How  to  pray  is  still  of  greater  moment  than  to  pray; 
it  is  not  the  request,  but  the  frame  of  the  petitioner's 
spirit.  God  needs  not  to  be  told  of  our  wants  by  us,  Ho 
must  tell  them  to  us;  yet  lie  will  be  told  them  from  us, 
both  that  we  may  seek  Him,  and  that  He  may  come  down 
to  us.  I5ut  when  this  is  done,  To  this  "man  will  I  look, 
saith  the  Lord,  even  to  him  that  is  poor,  and  of  a  contrite 
spirit,  and  that  trcmbleth  at  my  word."  To  the  sick 


OF     WILLIAM     PKNN  63 

heart,  the  wounded  soul,  iho  hungry  and  thirsty,  the 
weary  and  heavy-laden  ones;  such  sincerely  want  an 
helper. 

Christ  often  upbraided  his  disciples  with,  "  ()  ye  of  li I. 
Me  1'aiMi  !  "  Yet  He  tells  us  Mint  one  ^rain  of  it,  though  MS 
lil  Me  as  lliat  of  mustard,  one  of  tho  least  of  seeds,  if  true 
and  riu'hf,  is  able  to  remove;  mountains.  And  to  encour 
age  Ins  disciples  to  believe,  when  they  were  admiring  how 
soon  his  sentence  was  executed  upon  the  fruitless  li^-tree, 
He  lells  them,  "  Verily,  if  ye  have  faith,  :i.nd  doubt  not, 
ye  shall  not  only  do  this  which  is  done  to  the  (ig-trce,  but 
also,  if  ye  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  be  (lion  removed 
and  east  into  the  sea,,  it  shall  be  done;  and  all  things 
whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  re 
ceive." 

Hut  som<;  may  say,  it  is  impossible  to  receive  all  that  a 
man  may  ask.  It  is  not  impossible  to  receive;  all  that  a 
man,  that  so  believes,  can  ask.  The  fruits  of  faith  arc  not 
impossible  to  those  who  truly  believe  in  (iod,  who  makes 
them  possible;.  When  .Jcsus  said  to  the  ruler,  "  If  thou 
canst  believe,"  He;  adds,  "all  things  are;  possible  to  him 
that  be-lieveth."  Jlut  some!  will  say,  it  is  impossible  te> 
have;  such  faith.  This  ve:ry  faithless  generation  would 
excuse;  their  want  of  faith  by  making  it  impossible  to 
have  the;  faith  they  want.  Hut  Christ's  answer  to  the 
infidelity  of  that  ago  will  best  confute  the;  disbelief  of 
this.  "  Tho  things  that  are;  impossible  with  men,  are 
possiblo  with  (j!od."  It  will  follow,  then,  that  it  is  not 
impossible;  with  (*<><!  to  ^'ive  that  faith;  though  it  is 
certain  that  "  without  it,  it  is  impossible  to  please  (jJoel  ;  " 
for  so  the;  author  to  the  Hebrews  teaches.  Ami  if  it  bo 


64  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

impossible  to  please  God,  it  must  be  so  to  pray  to  God, 
without  this  precious  faith. 

But  some  may  say,  What  is  this  faith  that  is  so  neces 
sary  to  worship,  and  that  gives  it  such  acceptance  with 
God,  and  returns  that  benefit  to  men?  I  say,  it  is  an 
holy  resignation  to  God,  and  confidence  in  Him,  testified 
by  a  religious  obedience  to  his  holy  requirings,  which 
gives  sure  evidence  to  the  soul  of  the  things  not  yet  seen, 
and  a  general  sense  and  taste  of  the  substance  of  those 
things  that  are  hoped  for ;  that  is,  the  glory  which  is  to 
be  revealed  hereafter.  As  this  faith  is  the  gift  of  God, 
so  it  purifies  the  hearts  of  those  that  receive  it.  The 
apostle  Paul  is  witness,  that  it  will  not  dwell  but  in  a 
pure  conscience ;  he,  therefore,  in  one  place  couples  a  pure 
heart  and  faith  unfeigned  together  ;  in  another,  faith  and 
a  good  conscience.  James  joins  faith  wTith  righteousness, 
and  John  with  victory  over  the  world.  "This,"  says 
he,  "  is  the  victory  which  overcomes  the  world,  even 
your  faith."  To  this  faith  no  man  comes,  but  through 
death  to  self,  by  the  cross  of  Jesus,  and  an  entire  depend 
ence,  by  Him,  upon  God.  By  it  the  holy  ancients  en 
dured  all  trials,  overcame  all  enemies,  prevailed  with  God, 
renowned  his  Truth,  finished  their  testimony,  and  ob 
tained  the  reward  of  the  faithful,  a  crown  of  righteous 
ness,  which  is  the  eternal  blessedness  of  the  just. 

THE  CARE  AND  love  of  all  mankind  are  'either  directed  to 
God  or  themselves.  Those  that  love  God  above  all,  are 
ever  humbling  self  to  his  commands,  and  only  love  self 
in  subserviency  to  Him  who  is  Lord  of  all.  But  those 
who  are  declined  from  that  love  to  God,  are  lovers  of 
themselves  more  than  God ;  f<  r  supreme  love  must  centi  3 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  65 

in  one  of  these  two.  To  that  inordinate  self-love,  the 
apostle  rightly  joins  pride  and  high- minded  ness.  For  no 
sooner  had  the  angels  declined  their  love,  duty,  and 
reverence  to  God,  than  they  inordinately  loved  and  valued 
themselves ;  which  made  them  exceed  their  station,  and 
aspire  above  the  order  of  their  creation.  This  was  their 
pride,  and  this  sad  defection  their  dismal  fall ;  who  are 
reserved  in  chains  of  darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the 
great  day  of  God. 

Pride  began  the  misery  of  mankind.  Adam  would 
needs  be  wiser  than  God  had  made  him.  It  did  not  serve 
his  turn  to  know  his  Creator,  and  give  Him  that  holy 
homage  to  which  his  being  and  innocency  naturally  en 
gaged  arid  excited  him ;  nor  to  have  an  "  understanding 
above  all  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and 
the  fishes  of  the  sea ;  "  joined  with  a  power  to  rule  over 
all  the  visible  creation  of  God.  He  must  be  as  wise  as 
God,  too.  The  lamentable  consequence  of  this  great  de 
fection  has  been,  an  exchange  of  innocency  for  guilt,  and 
a  paradise  for  a  wilderness. 

Nor  is  this  limited  to  Adam  ;  for  all  who  have  fallen 
short  of  the  glory  of  God,  are  right-born  sons  of  his  dis 
obedience.  They,  like  him,  have  eaten  of  what  has  been 
forbidden;  they  have  "committed  the  things  they  ought 
not  to  have  done,  and  left  undone  the  things  they  ought  to 
have  done."  They  have  sinned  against  that  divine  light  of 
knowledge  which  God  has  given  them,  they  have  grieved 
hi*  Spirit,  and  that  dismal  sentence  has  been  executed, 
"  In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  die." 
That  is,  when  thou  doest  the  thing  which  thou  oughtest 
not  to  do,  thou  shalt  no  more  live  in  my  favor,  and  enjoy 
6*  E 


66  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  comforts  of  the  peace  of  my  Spirit.  This  is  a  dying 
to  all  those  innocent  and  holy  desires  and  affections  with 
which  God  created  man  ;  and  he  becomes  as  one  cold  and 
benumbed,  insensible  of  the  love  of  God,  of  his  Holy 
Spirit,  power,  and  wisdom  ;  of  the  light  and  joy  of  his 
countenance;  of  the  evidence  of  a  good  conscience,  and 
the  co-witnessing  and  approbation  of  God's  Holy  Spirit. 

The  true  knowledge  came  with  the  joy  of  angels,  sing 
ing  "peace  on  earth,  and  good-will  towards  men;"  the 
false  knowledge  entertained  the  message  with  calumnies. 
Christ  must  needs  be  an  imposter,  because  He  cried  out 
against  their  hypocrisy,  the  broad  phylacteries,  the  honor 
they  sought  of  men.  The  truth  is,  He  came  to  level  their 
honor,  to  overthrow  their  rabbiship,  and  by  his  grace  to 
bring  the  people  to  that  inward  knowledge  of  God  which 
they,  by  transgression,  were  departed  from.  Their  pride 
in  false  knowledge  having  made  them  incapable  of  receiv 
ing  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  Christ  thanks  his  Father 
that  He  hid  the  mystery  of  it  from  the  wise  and  prudent, 
and  revealed  them  to  babes. 

It  is  observable,  that  as  pride,  which  is  ever  followed 
by  superstition  and  obstinacy,  put  Adam  upon  seeking  an 
higher  station  than  God  placed  him  in ;  and  as  the  Jews, 
out  of  the  same  pride,  in  order  to  outdo  their  pattern, 
given  them  to  God  by  Moses  upon  the  mount,  set  their 
post  by  God's  post,  and  taught  for  doctrines  their  own 
traditions  ;  so  nominal  Christians  have  introduced,  in 
stead  of  a  spiritual  worship  and  discipline,  that  which  is 
evidently  ceremonious  and  worldly;  with  such  innova 
tions  and  traditions  of  men  as  are  the  fruit  cf  the  wisdom 
that  is  from  below. 


OF    WILLIAM     PES  N.  67 

And  as  this  unwarrantable  pride  set  them  first  at  work 
to  pervert  the  spirituality  of  Christian  worship,  making  it 
rather  to  resemble  the  shadowy  religion  of  the  Jews  and 
the  gaudy  worship  of  the  Egyptians,  than  the  plainness 
and  simplicity  of  the  Christian  institution  ;  so  has  the 
same  pride  and  arrogancy  spurred  them  on,  by  all  imagi 
nable  cruelties,  to  maintain  this  great  Diana.  Almost 
every  history  tells  us,  with  what  pride  and  cruelty,  blood 
and  butchery,  and  unusual  and  exquisite  tortures,  they 
have  persecuted  the  holy  members  of  Christ,  out  of  the 
world. 

PRIDE  DOES  extremely  crave  power,  than  which  nothing 
has  proved  more  troublesome  and  destructive  to  mankind. 
I  need  not  labor  myself  much  in  evidence  of  this,  since 
most  of  the  wars  of  nations,  depopulation  of  kingdoms, 
ruin  of  cities,  with  the  slavery  and  misery  that  have  fol 
lowed,  both  our  own  experience  and  unquestionable  his 
tories  acquaint  us  to  have  been  the  effect  of  ambition, 
which  is  the  lust  of  pride  after  power.  A  very  trifle  is  too 
often  made  a  ground  of  quarrel ;  nor  can  any  league  be  so 
sacred  or  inviolable  that  arts  shall  not  be  used  to  evade 
and  dissolve  it  to  increase  dominion.  Xo  matter  who  nor 
how  many  are  slain,  or  made  widows  and  orphans,  or  lose 
their  estates  and  livelihoods;  what  countries  are  ruined, 
what  towns  and  cities  spoiled,  if  by  all  these  things  the 
ambitious  can  but  arrive  at  their  ends.  But  ambition  does 
not  only  dwell  in  courts  and  senates,  i1:  is  natural  to  every 
private  breast  to  strain  for  power.  We  daily  see  how  much 
men  labor  with  their  utmost  wit  and  interest  to  be  great, 
to  get  higher  places  or  greater  titles  than  they  have,  that 
they  may  look  bigger  and  be  more  acknowledged. 


68  PASSAGES     FliOM    THE    LIFE 

Great  is  their  peace  who  know  a  limit  to  their  ambi 
tious  minds,  have  learned  to  be  contented  with  the  ap 
pointments  and  bounds  of  Providence,  arid  are  not  careful 
to  be  great,  but  being*  great  are  humble  and  good.  Such 
keep  their  wits  with  their  consciences,  and  with  an  even 
mind  can  at  all  times  measure  the  uneven  world,  rest  fixed 
in  the  midst  of  all  its  uncertainties,  and,  as  becomes  those 
who  have  an  interest  in  a  better  inheritance,  in  the  good 
time  and  will  of  God  cheerfully  leave  this,  when  the  am 
bitious,  conscious  of  their  evil  practices  and  weighed  down 
to  their  graves  with  guilt,  must  go  to  a  tribunal  which 
they  can  neither  awe  nor  bribe. 

Pride  loves  power,  that  she  might  have  homage  and 
that  every  one  may  give  her  honor ;  and  such  as  are 
wanting  in  this  expose  themselves  to  her  anger  and  re 
venge. 

What  envy,  quarrels,  and  mischiefs  have  happened 
among  private  persons  upon  conceit  that  they  have  not 
been  respected  according  to  their  degree  of  quality  among 
men,  with  hat,  knee,  or  title,  even  duels  and  murders  not 
a  few.  In  France  (before  I  professed  the  communion  I 
am  now  of)  I  was  myself  once  set  upon  about  eleven  at 
night,  as  I  was  walking  to  my  lodging,  by  a  person  who 
waylaid  me  with  his  naked  sword  in  his  hand,  and  de 
manded  satisfaction  of  me  for  taking  no  notice  of  him  at 
a  time  when  he  civilly  saluted  me  with  his  hat,  though 
the  truth  was  I  saw  him  not  when  he  did  it.  Suppose  he 
would  have  killed  me,  for  he  made  several  passes  at  me, 
or  I  in  my  defence  had  killed  him  when  I  disarmed  him 
(as  the  earl  of  Crawford's  servant  who  wras  by  saw),  I 
ask  an}'  man  of  understanding  or  conscience  if  the  whole 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  69 

round  of  ceremony  were  worth  the  life  of  a  man,  consid 
ering  the  dignity  of  his  nature  and  the  importance  of  his 
life,  both  with  respect  to  God  his  Creator,  himself,  and  the 
benefit  of  civil  society  ? 

And  here  give  me  leave  to  set  down  the  reason  more 
particularly  why  I  and  the  people  with  whom  I  walk  in 
religious  society  have  declined,  as  vain  and  foolish,  several 
worldly  customs  and  fashions  of  respect  much  in  request 
at  this  time  of  day. 

The  first  and  most  pressing  motive  upon  our  spirits  to 
decline  the  practice  of  these  customs  of  pulling  off  the 
hat,  bowing  the  body  or  knee,  and  giving  people  gaudy 
titles  and  epithets  in  our  salutations  and  addresses  was 
that  sight  and  sense  which  God,  by  his  light  and  Spirit, 
has  given  us  of  the  Christian  world's  apostasy  from  God, 
and  the  cause  and  effects  of  that  great  and  lamentable  de 
fection.  In  the  discovery  of  this  the  sense  of  our  state 
came  first  before  us,  and  we  were  made  to  sec  Him  whom 
we  had  pierced,  and  to  mourn  for  it.  A  day  of  humilia 
tion  overtook  us,  and  we  fainted  to  that  pleasure  and  de 
light  we  once  loved.  Now  our  works  went  beforehand  to 
judgment,  a  thorough  search  was  made,  and  the  words  of 
the  prophet  became  well  understood  by  us:  "Who  can 
abide  the  day  of  his  coming,  and  who  shall  stand  when 
He  appears?  He  is  like  a  refiner's  fire  and  like  fuller's 
soap." 

The  brightness  of  his  coming  to  our  souls  discovered, 
and  the  breath  of  his  mouth  destroyed,  every  plant  He 
had  not  planted  in  us.  He  was  a  swift  witness  against 
every  evil  thought  and  every  unfruitful  work,  and,  blessed 
be  his  name,  we  were  not  offended  in  Him  or  at 


70  P  A  S  S  A  G  E  S     F  R  O  M     THE     LIFE 

his  righteous  judgments.     Now  it  was  that  a  grand  in 
quest  came  upon  our  whole  life.     Every  word,  thought 
and  deed  was  brought  to  judgment,  the  root  examined 
and  its  tendency  considered.     "  The  lust  of  the  eye,  th 
lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  pride  of  life  "  were  opened  U 
our  view,  the  mystery  of  iniquity  in   us.     By  knowing 
the  evil  leaven  and  its  divers  evil  effects  in  ourselves,  how 
it  had  wrought  and  what  it  had  done,  we  came  to  have  a 
sense  and  knowledge  of  the  states  of  others ;  and  what 
we  could  not,  nay,  dare  not,  live  and  continue  in  ourselves, 
as  being  manifested  to  us  to  proceed  from  an  evil  principle 
in  the  time  of  man's  degeneracy,  we  could  not  comply  with 
in  others.     I  say,  and  that  in  the  fear  and  presence  of  the 
all-seeing,  just  God,  the  honors  and  respect  of  the  world 
among  other  things  became  burdensome  to  us.     We  saw 
they  had  no  being  in  paradise,  that  they  grew  in  the  night 
time,  and  came  from  an  evil  root,  and  that  they  only  de 
lighted  a  vain  and  ill  mind,  and  that  much  pride  and  folly 
were  in  them. 

Though  it  be  frequently  objected  that  we  seek  to  set  up 
outward  forms  of  preciseness,  and  that  it  is  but  as  a  green 
ribbon,  the  badge  of  the  party,  to  be  better  known,  I  do 
declare,  in  the  fear  of  Almighty  God,  that  these  are  but 
the  imaginations  and  vain  constructions  of  men,  who  have 
not  had  that  sense,  wrhich  the  Lord  hath  given  us,  of  what 
arises  from  the  right  and  the  wTong  root  in  man.  And 
when  such  censurers  of  our  simplicity  shall  be  inwardly 
touched  and  awakened  by  the  mighty  power  of  God,  and 
see  things  as  they  are  in  their  proper  natures  and  seeds, 
the.y  will  then  know  their  own  burden,  and  easily  acquit 
us,  without  the  imputation  of  folly  or  hypocrisy  herein. 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  71 

To  such  at;  say  that  we  strain  at  small  things,  which 
becomes  not  people  of  so  fair  pretensions  to  liberty  and 
freedom  of  spirit,  I  answer,  with  meekness,  truth,  an^ 
sobriety,  first,  nothing  is  small  which  God  makes  matter 
of  conscience  to  do  or  leave  undone.  Next,  inconsiderable 
as  they  are  made  by  those  who  object  to  our  practice,  they 
are  so  greatly  set  by,  that  for  our  not  giving  them,  we  are 
beaten,  imprisoned,  refused  justice,  etc.,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  derision  and  reproach  which  have  been  frequently 
flung  at  us  on  this  account. 

A  reason  why  we  decline  and  refuse  the  present  use  of 
these  customs  in  our  addresses  and  salutations,  is  from  the 
consideration  of  their  very  emptiness  and  vanity  ;  that 
there  is  nothing  of  true  honor  and  respect  in  them,  sup 
posing  them  not  to  be  evil.  We  declare  to  the  whole 
world  that  we  are  for  true  honor  and  respect.  We  honor 
the  king,  our  parents,  our  masters,  our  magistrates,  our 
landlords,  one  another ;  yea,  all  men,  after  God's  way, 
used  by  holy  men  and  women  of  old  time ;  but  we  refuse 
their  customs  as  vain  and  deceitful,  not  answering  the  end 
they  are  used  for. 

We  cannot  esteem  bows,  titles,  and  pulling  off  of  hats 
to  be  real  honor,  because  such  like  customs  have  been  pro 
hibited  by  God,  his  Son,  and  servants  in  days  past. 

A  Scripture  instance  I  shall  urge  against  these  customs 
is  a  passage  in  Job,  thus  expressed :  "  Let  me  not,  I  pray 
you,  accept  any  man's  person  ;  neither  let  me  give  flatter 
ing  titles  unto  man,  for  I  know  not  to  give  flattering 
titles ;  in  so  doing  my  Maker  would  soon  take  me  away." 
The  question  that  will  arise  upon  the  allegation  of  this 
Scripture  is  this, 'viz. :  What  titles  are  flattering?  The 


72  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

answer  is  as  obvious,  namely :  Such  as  are  empty  and 
fictitious,  and  make  him  more  than  he  is.  To  call  a  man 
what  he  is  not  to  please  him,  or  to  exalt  him  beyond  his 
true  name,  office,  or  desert,  to  gain  upon  his  affection, 
who,  it  may  be,  lusteth  to  honor  and  respect.  Such  as 
these,  most  excellent,  most  sacred,  your  grace,  your  lord 
ship,  most  dread  majesty,  right  honorable,  right  worship 
ful,  calculated  only  to  please  and  tickle  poor,  proud,  vain, 
yet  mortal  man.  Likewise,  to  call  man  what  he  is  not,  as 
my  lord,  my  master,  etc.,  and  wise,  just,  or  good,  when  he 
is  neither,  only  to  please  him  or  to  show  him  respect. 

It  was  common  to  do  thus  among  the  Jews  under 
their  degeneracy,  wherefore  one  came  to  Christ  and  said  : 
"  Good  master,  what  shall  I  do  to  have  eternal  life  ?  " 
It  was  a  salutation  or  address  of  respect  in  those  times. 
But  what  was  Christ's  answer  ?  How  did  He  take  it  ? 
"  Why  callest  thou  me  good  ?  "  says  Christ ;  "  there  is 
none  good  save  one,  that  is  God."  He  rejected  it,  who  had 
more  right  to  keep  it  than  all  mankind.  AnJ  why  ?  Be 
cause  though  there  was  no  one  greater  than  He,  yet  He 
saw  the  man  addressed  it  to  his  manhood,  after  the  way 
of  the  times,  and  not  to  his  divinity  which  dwelt  within  it. 
Therefore  He  refused  it,  instructing  us  that  we  should  not 
give  such  epithets  and  titles  commonly  to  men.  For  good 
being  due  alone  to  God  and  godliness,  it  can  only  be  said 
in  flattery  to  fallen  man,  and  therefore  sinful  to  be  so  said. 

It  should  and  ought  to  suffice  with  Christians,  that  these 
customs  are  severely  censured  by  the  great  Lord  and  Mas 
ter  of  all  their  religion.  He  tells  us  what  that  honor  was 
they  gave  and  received,  which  He  condemns  them  for,  and 
of  which  He  bids  the  disciples  of  his  humility. and  cross  to 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN  X.  7o 

beware.  His  words  are  these,  and  He  speaks  them  not  of 
the  rabble,  but  of  the  doctors,  the  great  men,  the  men  of 
honor  among  the  Jews  :  "  They  love  the  uppermost  rooms 
at  feasts/' that  is,  places  of  greatest  rank  and  respect; 
"greetings,"  that  is,  salutations  of  respect,  such  as  pull 
ing  off  the  hat,  and  bowing  the  body  are  in  our  age ;  "  in 
the  market-places,"  viz.,  in  the  places  of  note  and  con 
course,  the  public  walks  and  exchanges  of  the  country ; 
and  lastly,  "  They  love  to  be  called  of  men,  Rabbi,  Rabbi," 
one  of  the  most  eminent  titles  among  the  Jews.  A  word 
comprehending  an  excellency  ecmal  to  many  titles,  it  may 
stand  for  your  grace,  your  lordship,  right  reverend  father, 
etc.  Jt  is  upon  these  men  of  breeding  and  quality,  that 
he  pronounces  his  woes,  making  these  practices  some  of 
the  motives  of  his  threatening  against  them.  But  He 
leaves  it  not  here;  He  pursues  this  very  point  of  honor, 
above  all  the  rest,  in  his  caution  to  his  disciples,  to  whom 
He  gave  in  charge  thus :  "  But  be  not  ye  called  Rabbi,  for 
one  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren. 
Neither  be  ye  called  masters ;  but  he  that  is  greatest 
among  you  shall  be  your  servant,  and  whosoever  shall 
exalt  himself,  shall  be  abased."  These  passages  carry  a 
severe  rebuke,  both  to  worldly  honor  in  general  and  1  > 
those  members  and  expressions  of  it  in  particular  which, 
as  near  as  the  language  of  Scripture  and  customs  of  tha< 
age  will  permit,  do  distinctly  reach  and  allude  to  those  of 
our  own  time. 

There  is  another  piece  of  non-conformity  to  the  world, 

and  that  is,  thou  for  you,  and  that  without  difference  or 

respect  to  persons,  which  to  some  looks  so  rude  it  cannot 

well  go  down  without  derision  or  wrath.    But  as  we  have 

7 


74  PASSAGES     F  II  O  M     THE     I,  I  F  E 

the  same  original  reason  for  declining  this  as  the  foregoing 
customs,  so  I  shall  add  what  to  me  looks  reasonable  in  our 
defence. 

Though  the  world  be  divided  into  many  nations,  each 
of  which,  for  the  most  part,  has  a  peculiar  language,  speec  h, 
or  dialect,  yet  have  they  ever  concurred  in  the  same  num 
ber  and  persons  as  much  of  the  ground  of  right  speech. 
Which  undeniable  grammatical  rule  might  be  enough  to 
satisfy  any  that  we  are  not  beside  reason  in  our  practice. 
It  is  plain  that  thou  is  the  only  proper  word  to  be  used  in 
all  languages  to  a  single  person,  because  otherwise  all 
sentences,  speeches,  and  discourses  may  be  very  ambig 
uous,  uncertain,  and  equivocal. 

But  some  will  tell  us  custom  should  rule  us,  and  that  is 
against  us.  It  is  easily  answered,  and  more  truly,  that 
though  in  things  reasonable  or  indifferent  custom  is  oblig 
ing  or  harmless,  yet  in  things  unreasonable  or  unlawful 
she  has  no  authority.  I  know -words  are  nothing  but  as 
men  give  them  a  value  or  force  by  use.  But,  then,  if  you 
will  discharge  thou  and  that  you  must  succeed  in  its  place, 
let  us  have  a  distinguishing  word  in  room  of  you  to  be 
used  in  speech  to  many.  But  to  use  the  same  word  for 
one  and  many  when  there  are  two,  and  that  only  to  please 
a  proud  and  haughty  humor  in  man,  is  not  reasonable  in 
our  sense,  which,  we  hope,  is  Christian,  though  not  mod 
ish. 

If  thou  to  a  single  person  be  improper  or  uncivil,  God 
himself,  all  the  holy  fathers  and  prophets,  Christ  Jesus 
and  his  apostles,  the  primitive  saints,  and  all  languages 
throughout  the  world  are  guilty.  It  is  a  most  extrava 
gant  piece  of  pride  in  a  mortal  man  to  require  or  expect 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN  N.  75 

from  his  ft; How-creature  a  more  civil  speech  or  grateful 
language  than  he  is  wont  to  give  the  immortal  God,  his 
Creator,  in  all  his  worship  to  Him.  Canst  thou  approach 
the  God  of  thy  breath  and  great  judge  of  thy  life  with 
thou  and  thee,  and  when  thou  risest  off  thy  knees  scorn  a 
Christian  for  giving  to  thee,  poor  mushroom  of  the  earth, 
no  better  language  than  thou  hast  given  to  God  but  just 
before  ? 

My  friends,  whatever  you  think,  your  plea  of  custom 
will  find  no  place  at  God's  tribunal.  The  light  of  Christ 
in  your  own  hearts  will  overrule  it,  and  this  spirit,  against 
which  we  testify,  shall  then  appear  to  be  what  we  say  it 
is.  Say  not  I  am  serious  about  slight  things,  but  beware 
you  of  levity  and  rashness  in  serious  things.  To  us, 
whom  God  has  brought  into  a  spiritual  discerning  of  the 
nature  and  ground  of  the  world's  fashions,  they  appear  to 
be  fruits  of  pride  and  flattery,  and  we  dare  not  continue 
in  such  vain  compliances  to  earthly  minds,  lest  we  offend 
God  and  burden  our  consciences.  And  this  know,  from 
the  sense  God's  Holy  Spirit  hath  begotten  in  us,  that  that 
which  requires  these  customs,  and  begets  fear  to  leav° 
them,  and  pleads  for  them,  and  is  displeased  if  the}  at^ 
not  used  and  paid,  is  the  spirit  of  pride  and  flattery  in  the 
ground,  though  frequency,  use,  or  generosity  may  have 
abated  its  strength  in  some. 

The  eternal  God  who  is  great  amongst  us,  and  is  on  his 
way  in  the  earth  to  make  his  power  known,  "  will  root  up 
every  plant  that  his  right  hand  hath  not  planted."  It 
was  extremety  irksome  to  me  to  decline  and  expose  my 
self;  but  having  an  assured  and  repeated  sense  of  the 
original  of  these  vain  customs,  that  they  rise  from  pride, 


76  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

self-love,  and  flattery,  I  dared  not  gratify  that  mind  in 
myself  or  others.  And  for  this  reason  it  is,  that  I  am 
earnest  with  my  readers  to  be  cautious  how  they  reprove 
us  on  this  occasion,  and  do  once  more  entreat  them  that 
they  would  seriously  weigh  in  themselves  whether  it  be 
the  spirit  of  the  world  or  of  the  Father,  that  is  so  angry 
with  our  honest,  plain,  and  harmless  them  and  thee ;  that 
so  every  plant  that  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  hath  not 
planted  in  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men,  may  be  rooted 
up. 

PRIDE  EXCITES  people  to  an  excessive  value  and  care  of 
their  persons.  They  must  have  great  and  punctual  at 
tendance,  stately  furniture,  rich  and  exact  apparel,  all 
which  help  to  make  up  that  pride  of  life  that  John  tells 
us  "  is  not  of  the  Father,  but  of  the  world."  That  people 
are  generally  proud  of  their"  persons,  is  too  visible  and 
troublesome,  especially  if  they  have  any  pretence  either  to 
blood  or  beauty.  The  one  has  raised  many  quarrels  among 
men,  and  the  other  among  women,  and  men,  too,  often, 
for  their  sakes  and  at  their  excitements.  What  matter  is 
it  of  whom  any  one  is  descended  that  is  not  of  ill-fame, 
since  his  own  virtue  must  raise  or  his  vice  depress  him  ? 
To  be  descended  of  wealth  and  titles  fills  no  man's  head 
with  brains,  or  heart  with  truth  ;  those  qualities  come 
from  a  higher  cause. 

Oh,  says  the  person  proud  of  blood,  it  was  never  a  good 
world  since  we  have  had  so  many  upstart  gentlemen.  But 
what  should  others  have  said  of  that  man's  ancestor  when 
he  started  up  first  into  the  knowledge  of  the  world  ? 
Strange,  that  they  should  be  more  noble  than  their  an 
cestor,  who  got  their  nobility  for  them.  But  if  this  be 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXN.  77 

absurd,  as  it  is,  then  the  upstart  is  the  noble  man ;  tho 
man  who  got  it  by  his  virtue,  and  those  only  are  entitled 
to  his  honor  who  are  imitators  of  his  virtue,  the  rest  may 
bear  his  name  from  his  blood,  but  that  is  all. 

But  personal  pride  ends  not  in  nobility  of  blood.  It 
leads  folks  to  a  fond  value  of  their  persons,  be  they  noble 
or  ignoble,  especially  if  they  have  any  pretence  to  shape 
or  beauty. 

Art  thou  shapely,  comely,  beautiful,  the  exact  draught 
of  an  human  creature  ?  Admire  that  Power  that  made 
thee  so.  Live  an  harmonious  life  to  the  curious  make 
and  frame  of  thy  creation  ;  and  let  the  beauty  of  thy  body 
teach  thee  to  beautify  thy  mind  with  holiness,  the  orna 
ment  of  the  beloved  of  God.  Art  thou  homely  or  de 
formed  ?  With  the  grace  that  is  given  unto  thcc,  for  it 
has  appeared  unto  all,  learn  to  adorn  thy  soul  with  endur 
ing  beauty.  Remember  the  King  of  heaven's  daughter, 
the  church  of  which  true  Christians  are  members,  is  all 
glorious  within  ;  and  if  thy  soul  excel,  thy  body  will  only 
set  off  the  lustre  of  thy  mind. 

What  folly,  as  well  as  irreligion,  is  there  in  pride  ?  It 
cannot  add  one  cubit  to  any  man's  stature.  What  crosses 
can  it  hinder  ?  What  disappointments  help  or  what  harm 
frustrate  ?  It  delivers  not  from  the  common  stroke.  Sick 
ness  disfigures,  pain  mis-shapes,  and  death  ends  the  proud 
man's  fabric.  Six  feet  of  cold  earth  bounds  his  big  thoughts, 
and  his  person,  which  was  too  good  for  any  place,  must  at 
last  lodge  within  the  strait  limits  of  so  little  and  so  dark 
a  cave  ;  and  he  who  thought  nothing  well  enough  for  him 
is  quickly  the  entertainment  of  the  lowest  of  all  animals, 
even  worms  themselves.  The  proud  man's  antiquity  cannot 


78  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

secure  him  from  death,  nor  his  heraldry  from  judgment. 
Titles  of  honor  vanish  at  this  extremity,  and  no  power  or 
wealth,  no  distance  or  respect  can  rescue  or  insure  them. 
As  the  tree  falls  it  lies,  and  as  death  leaves  men  judgment 
finds  them. 

TRULY  IT  is  a  reproach  to  a  man,  especially  the  religious 
man,  that  he  knows  not  when  he  hath  enough,  or  when 
to  leave  off  and  be  satisfied.  That  notwithstanding  God 
sends  him  one  plentiful  season  of  gain  after  another,  he  is 
so  far  from  making  that  the  cause  of  withdrawing  from 
the  traffic  of  the  world  that  he  makes  it  a  reason  of  launch 
ing  farther  into  it,  as  if  the  more  he  hath  the  more  he  may 
have.  This  is  as  if  cumber,  not  retirement,  and  gain,  not 
content,  were  the  duty  and  comfort  of  a  Christian.  It  is 
plain  that  most  people  strive  not  for  substance,  but  wealth. 
Some  there  be  who  love  it  strongly  and  spend  it  liberally 
when  they  have  got  it.  Though  this  be  sinful,  yet  more 
commendable  than  to  love  money  for  money's  sake.  This 
is  one  of  the  basest  passions  the  mind  of  man  can  be  cap 
tivated  with. 

Thousands  think  themselves  unconcerned  in  the  caution 
who  yet  are  perfectly  guilty  of  the  evil.  How  can  it  be 
otherwise  when  those  that  have,  from  a  low  condition, 
acquired  thousands  labor  yet  to  advance,  yea,  double  and 
treble  those  thousands.  Is  this  to  live  comfortably  or  to 
be  rich  ?  It  hurts  society,  for  old  traders  keep  the  young 
ones  poor.  And  the  great  reason  why  some  have  too  little, 
and  so  are  forced  to  drudge  like  slaves  to  feed  their  fami 
lies  and  keep  their  chin  above  water,  is  because  the  rich 
hold  fast,  and  press  to  be  richer,  and  covet  more,  which 
dries  up  the  little  streams  of  profit  from  smaller  folks 


O  F     W  I  L,  L  I  A  M     P  E  X  N  .  79 

There  should  be  a  standard  both  as  to  the  value  and  tirae 
of  traffic,  and  then  the  trade  of  the  master  to  be  shared 
among  his  servants  who  deserve  it.  This  were  both  to 
help  the  young  to  get  their  livelihood  and  to  give  the  old 
time  to  think  of  leaving  fhis  world  well,  in  which  they 
have  been  so  busy,  that  they  might  obtain  a  share  in  the 
other,  of  which  they  have  been  so  careless. 

Man  was  made  a  noble,  rational,  grave  creature.  His 
pleasure  stood  in  his  duty,  and  his  duty  in  obeying  God, 
which  was  to  love,  fear,  adore,  and  serve  Him,  and  in 
using  the  creation  with  true  temperance  and  godly  modera 
tion,  as  knowing  well  that  the  Lord  his  judge  was  at  hand, 
the  inspector  and  rewarder  of  his  works.  In  short,  his 
happiness  was  in  his  communion  with  God  ;  his  error  was 
to  leave  that  conversation  and  let  his  eyes  wander  abroad 
to  gaze  on  transitory  things.  The  best  recreation  is  to 
do  good ;  and  all  Christian  customs  tend  to  temperance 
and  some  good  and  beneficial  end,  which  more  or  less  may 
be  in  every  action. 

Redeem  then  the  time,  for  the  days  are  evil  and  yours 
but  very  few.  Therefore  gird  up  the  loins  of  your  minds, 
be  sober,  fear,  watch,  pray,  and  endure  to  the  end,  calling 
to  mind,  for  your  encouragement  and  consolation,  that  all 
such  as  through  patience  and  well-doing  wait  for  immor 
tality  shall  reap  glory,  honor,  and  eternal  life  in  the  king 
dom  of  the  Father,  whose  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power, 
and  the  glory  forever.  Amen. 

The  discourse  is  illustrated  with  many  interesting  re 
citals  of  the  example  and  sayings  of  F.elf-denying  men  and 
we  men  of  all  ages  of  the  world 


80  PASSAGES     FUOM     T  JI  E     LIFE 


IV. 

AT  the  time  when  William  Pcnn  was  discharged  from 
his  confinement  in  the  Tower,  his  father's  asperity 
towards  him  was  considerably  softened.  The  mortification 
which  he  felt  on  discovering  that  his  son  was  firmly  united 
to  the  Society  of  Friends,  then  almost  universally  vilified 
and  despised,  must  have  rendered  him  averse  to  an  open 
reconciliation.  Yet  the  severity  with  which  he  saw  him 
treated,  the  malicious  efforts  which  were  used  to  destroy 
his  reputation,  and  the  tedious  imprisonment  to  which  he 
had  been  subjected,  could  hardly  fail  to  excite  his  sym 
pathy;  while  the  patience  with  which  he  sustained  his 
complicated  trials,  the  firmness  with  which  he  maintained 
his  principles,  and  the  innocent  boldness  with  which  he 
vindicated  his  character,  excited  his  respect,  and  tended  to 
satisfy  his  father  both  of  the  sincerity  of  his  intentions 
and  the  soundness  of  his  religious  principles.  He  allowed 
him  to  reside  at  his  own  house,  though  he  did  not  see  him, 
and  caused  it  to  be  signified  to  him,  through  his  mother, 
that  he  might  return  to  Ireland  to  execute  a  commission 
for  him.  He  accordingly  left  London,  and  arrived  at  Cork 
in  the  Eighth  month  of  ICC 9. 

In  the  fragment  of  autobiography  before  alluded  to,  he 
Rays  :  "  Within  six  weeks  after  my  enlargement  (from  the 
Tower)  I  wTas  sent  by  my  father  to  settle  his  estate  in 
Ireland,  when  I  found  those  of  that  kingdom  under  too 


O  I?1     W  I  L  L  I  A  M     P  E  X  N  .  81 

g-enera!  persecution,  and  those  of  the  city  of  Cork  almost 
all  in  prison  ;  and  the  jail  by  that  means  became  a  meeting 
house  and  a  workhouse,  for  they  would  not  be  idle  any 
where.  I  was  sorry  to  see  so  much  sharpness  from  English 
to  English,  as  well  as  Protestants  to  Protestants,  when 
their  interests  were  civilly  and  nationally  the  same,  and 
their  profession  of  religion  fundamentally  so  too.  Having 
informed  myself  of  their  case,  and  the  grounds  of  this 
severity,  as  near  as  they  could  inform  me,  (which,  without 
doubt,  was  at  least  as  much  from  envy  about  trade  as 
zeal  for  religion,)  I  adjourned  all  private  affairs  to  my 
return  from  Dublin,  whither,  in  a  few  days,  I  went  post, 
and  after  conferring  with  my  friends  at  that  city,  and 
digesting  the  whole  into  a  general  state  of  our  case,  I 
went  with  two  or  three  of  them  to  the  castle."  Here 
his  narrative  ends;  but  it  is  known  that  he  went  to  Dub 
lin,  and  attended  the  National  Meeting  of  Friends,  which 
was  held  at  his  lodgings.  At  that  meeting  an  account  of 
the  sufferings  of  Friends  was  prepared,  which,  a  few  days 
afterwards,  he  presented  to  the  lord-lieutenant. 

During  his  continuance  in  Ireland,  he  usually  resided 
either  at  Dublin  or  Cork.  His  sympathy  with  those  who 
were  suffering  on  account  of  their  religion  led  him  often 
to  visit  those  who  were  in  prison,  and  to  hold  meetings 
among  them.  He  also  wrote  several  tracts  to  promote 
the  cause  of  religion,  one  of  which  was  "A  Letter  to 
the  Young  Convinced."  Some  idea  of  the  spirit  of  this 
production  may  be  formed  from  the  following  extracts  : 

"  In  the  tender  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  earnestly  entreat 
you,  let  us  no  more  look  back  upon  our  ancient  pastimes 

F 


82  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

and  delights,  but  with  holy  resolution  press  on,  press  on ; 
for  they  will  steal  away  our  precious  souls,  beget  new 
desires,  raise  the  old  life,  and  finally  ensnare  and  pollute 
our  minds  again ;  and  what  will  be  the  end  of  such  rebel 
lion  but  woes  and  tribulations  from  the  hand  of  the  just 
God,  world  without  end.  Neither  let  us  enter  into  many 
reasonings  with  opposers,  for  that  is  the  life  which  God's 
power  is  revealed  to  slay;  it  is  the  still,  the  quiet,  and  the 
righteous  life  which  must  be  exalted  over  all.  And  this 
I  say  in  a  sound  understanding,  through  the  mercies  of 
the  Lord,  that  dendness,  darkness,  and  anguish  of  spirit 
will  be  the  end  of  such  disputing,  pragmatical  Christians 
whose  religion  consists  much  more  in  words  than  works, 
confessing  than  forsaking,  and  in  their  own  will-perform 
ances  and  external  observations,  than  in  the  reformation 
and  conversion  of  their  souls  to  God.  And  we  who  have 
known  something  more  of  the  Lord  may  also  reduce  our 
good  conditions  to  an  utter  loss  by  seeking  to  comprehend 
dubious  matters  in  our  understandings,  and  disputing 
about  them  with  every  opposer  whom  the  devil,  in  a  way 
of  temptation,  shall  present  to  us ;  which  does  no  way 
advance  our  growth  and  increase  in  the  noble  principle  of 
Truth. 

"And  I  beseech  you,  my  dear  friends,  let  not  the  fear 
of  any  external  thing  overcome  the  holy  resolution  we 
have  made  to  follow  the  Lamb,  Christ  Jesus,  through  all 
the  tribulations,  trials,  and  temptations  He  and  his  follow 
ers  meet  with.  Oh,  let  us  be  valiant  in  God's  cause  on 
earth,  who  have  but  a  few  days  to  live.  Let  the  constancy 
of  the  world  to  the  momentary  fashions,  pleasures,  and 
pollutions  of  it,  the  more  ardently  stir  us  up  to  express 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  OO 

ours  for  the  honor  of  our  God  against  them  all,  who  will 
reward  us  for  whatsoever  we  bear,  suffer,  or  part  with  on 
his  account.  Let  neither  father  nor  mother,  sister  nor 
brother,  wife  nor  child,  house  nor  land,  liberties  nor  life 
itself,  deter  us  from  our  holy  constancy.  Let  us,  however, 
be  careful  to  show  all  due  respect  to  our  relations,  not  to 
be  exalted  or  any  way  unruly,  lest  there  be  just  cause 
taken  against  us,  and  the  blessed  Truth  should  suffer ;  but, 
in  the  still,  retired,  holy,  and  patient  life,  which  this  pure 
Spirit  of  light  and  truth  certainly  brings  into,  let  us  all 
dwell  and  abide. 

''And,  as  one  who  is  a  traveller  in  his  way,  I  beseech 
you  all,  in  the  holy  awe  of  God,  that  you  never  forbear 
meeting  and  assembling  yourselves  with  the  holy  remnant 
amongst  whom  we  first  received  our  blessed  convincement. 
Let  us  be  grave,  weighty,  and  temperate,  keeping  low  in 
body  as  well  as  mind,  that  in  all  things  we  may  be  ex 
amples,  and  a  sweet  savor  for  God,  who  hath  loved  and 
called  us.  And,  my  dear  friends,  keep  in  the  simplicity 
of  the  cross  of  Jesus,  even  in  plainness  of  speech,  and  out 
of  the  world's  nattering  and  deceitful  respects  ;  for  we  are 
as  well  to  be  a  cross  in  our  garb,  gaits,  dealings,  and  salu 
tations,  as  religion  and  worship,  to  this  vain,  adulterated, 
and  apostatized  generation.  In  the  pure  measure  of  Truth 
that  has  been  manifested  to  every  particular,  and  has 
convinced  us  of  the  unrighteousness  of  the  world,  and  the 
vanity  and  emptiness  of  all  its  professions  of  God,  Christ, 
and  religion,  let  us  stand  and  abide,  that  we  may  feel  it  to 
be  our  refuge  and  strong  tower  when  the  enemy  shall 
approach,  cither  by  inward  exercises  or  outward  bonds 
and  suffering,  which  may  overtake  us  for  the  trial  of  our 


84:  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

most  precious  faith  ;  so  shall  we  sensibly  experience  that 
heavenly  blood  of  cleansing  which  only  can  give  remission, 
cleanse  from  all  sin,  and  finally  purge  the  conscience  from 
dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God." 

Having  accomplished  his  visit  in  regard  to  his  father's 
business,  and  rendered  a  number  of  signal  services  to 
his  friends  in  Ireland,  he  returned  to  his  native  land. 
His-father  was  now  fully  reconciled  to  him.  Though  the 
Admiral  was  only  about  forty-nine,  yet  his  constitution 
had  been  so  much  impaired  by  the  hardships  of  a  seafaring 
life,  and  exposure  to  a  variety  of  climates,  that  he  was  then 
sinking  under  the  infirmities  of  premature  old  age. 

In  the  year  1C  TO  the  famous  Conventicle  Act  was  passed 
by  Parliament,  which  prohibited  dissenters  from  worship 
ping  God  in  their  own  way.  It  had  been  first  suggested 
by  some  of  the  bishops.  The  chaplain  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  had  previously  printed  a  discourse  against 
toleration,  in  which  he  asserted  as  a  main  principle  that  it 
would  be  less  injurious  to  the  Government  to  dispense 
with  profane  and  loose  persons  than  to  allow  a  toleration 
to  religious  dissenters.  "This  act,"  says  Thomas  Ell- 
wood,  "  brake  down  and  overran  the  bounds  and  banks 
anciently  set  for  the  defence  and  security  of  Englishmen's 
lives,  liberties,  and  properties,  namely,  trials  by  jury,  in 
stead  thereof  directing  and  authorizing  justices  of  the 
peace  (and  that,  too,  privately  out  of  sessions)  to  convict, 
fine,  and  by  their  warrants  distrain  upon  offenders  against 
it,  directly  contrary  to  the  Great  Charter." 

It  was  impossible  that  an  act  like  this  could  pass  with 
out  becoming  a  source  of  new  suffering  to  William  Penn 
situated  as  he  then  was,  first,  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  85 

and,  secondly,  as  a  man  who  always  dared  to  do  what  he 
thought  to  be  his  duty.  Accordingly  he  was  one  of  the 
earliest  victims  to  its  decrees ;  for,  going  as  usual  with 
others  of  his  own  religious  society  to  their  meeting-house 
in  Gracechurch  Street  to  perform  divine  worship,  they 
found  it  guarded  by  a  band  of  soldiers.  Being  thus 
hindered  from  entering  it,  they  stopped  for  a  while  about 
the  doors.  Others  who  came  up  joined  the  former  and 
stopped  also,  so  that  in  a  little  time  there  was  a  consider 
able  assembly  on  the  spot.  By  this  time  William  Penn 
felt  himself  called  upon  to  preach  ;  but  he  had  not  ad 
vanced  far  in  his  discourse  when  he  and  William  Mead 
were  seized  by  constables,  who  produced  warrants  signed 
by  Sir  Samuel  Starling,  then  lord  mayor,  for  that  purpose. 
The  constables  after  they  had  seized  them  conveyed  them 
to  Newgate,  where  they  were  lodged,  that  they  might  be 
ready  to  take  their  trial  at  the  next  session  of  the  Old 
Bailey. 

This  arrest  was  made  known  next  morning  to  Admiral 
Penn  by  the  following  letter  : 

"  MY  DEAR  FATHER  : — This  comes  by  the  hand  of  one  who 
can  best  allay  the  trouble  it  brings.  As  true  as  ever  Paul 
said  it,  such  as  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  per 
secution  ;  so  for  no  other  reason  am  I  at  present  a 
sufferer.  Yesterday  I  was  taken  by  a  band  of  soldiers 
with  one  Captain  Mead  and  in  the  evening  carried  before 
the  mayor ;  he  proceeded  against  me  according  to  the 
ancient  law ;  he  told  me  I  should  have  my  hat  pulled  off, 
for  all  I  was  Admiral  Penn's  son.  I  told  him  I  desired 
to  be  in  common  with  others,  and  sought  no  refuge  from 


86  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  common  usage.  I  discoursed  with  him  about  the  hat, 
but  he  avoided  it.  Because  I  did  not  readily  answer  him 
as  to  my  name,  William,  when  he  asked  me  in  order  to  a 
mittimus,  he  bid  his  clerk  write  one  for  Bridewell,  and 
there  he  would  see  me  whipped  himself,  for  all  I  was 
Pcnn's  son  that  starved  the  seamen.  I  told  him  I  could 
very  well  bear  his  severe  expressions  concerning-  myself, 
but  was  sorry  to  hear  him  speak  those  abuses  of  my  father 
that  was  not  present ;  at  which  the  assembly  seemed  to 
murmur.  In  short,  he  committed  that  person  and  me  as 
rioters ;  and  at  present  we  are  at  the  sign  of  the  Black 
Dog,  in  Newgate  market. 

"And  now,  dear  father,  be  not  displeased  nor  grieved, 
what  if  this  be  designed  of  the  Lord  for  an  exercise  of  our 
patience.  I  am  very  well,  and  have  no  trouble  upon  my 
spirits  besides  my  absence  from  thee  at  this  juncture. 

"Well,  eternity  which  is  at  the  door  (for  He  that  shall 
come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry) — that  will  make 
amends  for  all.  The  Lord  God  everlasting  consolate  and 
support  thee  by  his  holy  power,  and  preserve  thee  to 
eternal  rest  and  glory.  Amen. 

"  Thy  faithful  and  obedient  son, 

"  My  duty  to  my  mother.  WILLIAM  PENN." 

On  the  first  of  the  Ninth  month  the  trial  came  on.  The 
indictment  stated  among  other  falsehoods  that  the  prisoners 
had  preached  to  an  unlawful,  seditious,  and  riotous  as 
sembly  ;  that  they  had  assembled  by  agreement  made 
beforehand ;  and  that  they  had  met  together  with  force 
and  arms,  and  this  to  the  great  terror  and  disturbance 
of  many  of  His  Majesty's  liege  subjects.  The  prisoners 


OF     WILLIA.M     PEXX.  87 

were  brought  to  the  bar,  and  pleaded  not  guilty  to  the 
indictment.  The  Court  was  then  adjourned. 

On  the  third  of  the  month,  William  Penn  and  William 
Mead  were  brought  again  into  Court.  One  of  the  officers 
as  they  entered  pulled  off  their  hats.  Upon  this  the  Lord 
Mayor  became  furious,  and  in  a  stern  voice  ordered  him 
to  put  them  on  again.  This  being  done,  the  Recorder 
fined  each  of  the  prisoners  forty  marks,  observing  that  the 
circumstance  of  being  .covered  there  amounted  to  a  con 
tempt  of  Court. 

The  witnesses  were  then  called  in  and  examined.  It 
appeared  from  their  testimony  that  on  the  fifteenth  of 
August  between  three  and  four  hundred  persons  were 
assembled  in  Gracechurch  Street,  and  that  they  saw  William 
Penn  speaking  to  the  people,  but  could  not  distinguish 
what  he  said.  One,  and  one  only,  swore  that  he  heard  him 
preach ;  but  on  further  examination  he  said  that  he  could 
not  on  account  of  the  noise  understand  any  one  of  the 
words  spoken.  With  respect  to  William  Mead,  it  was 
proved  that  he  was  there  also,  and  that  he  was  heard  to 
say  something  ;  but  nobody  could  tell  what.  This  was  in 
substance  the  whole  of  the  evidence  against  them. 

It  appears  probable  that  the  arrest  was  made  in  conse 
quence  of  the  Conventicle  Act,  then  recently  passed,  but 
a  prosecution  upon  that  act  was  not  sufficient  to  gratify 
the  malice  of  the  mayor  and  his  associates.  The  mayor 
chose  to  commit  them  as  rioters,  and  the  indictment  was 
apparently  framed  with  a  view  to  involve  them  and  their 
case  in  the  intricacies  of  the  unwritten  law,  and  to  subject 
them  to  such  penalty  as  the  malice  of  the  Court  might  pre 
scribe.  The  definition  of  an  unlawful  assembly  would 


88  P  A  S  S  A  G  E  S     F  R  O  M     THE     LIFE 

appear  to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  Conventicle  Act ; 
for  in  the  fourth  section  of  that  act,  meetings  for  religious 
purposes,  not  according  to  the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of 
England,  are  reckoned  unlawful  assemblies,  yet  we  have 
no  account  that  this  act  was  quoted  or  referred  to  during 
the  trial.  The  jury  were  urged  to  convict  William  Penn 
of  preaching  to  an  unlawful  assembly,  without  being  in 
formed  what  constituted  such  an  assembly,  or  what  pen 
alty  would  be  awarded.  The  fact  of  his  speaking  to  a 
number  of  people  in  the  street  being  established,  if  the 
jury  could  have  been  induced  to  decide  that  he  was 
speaking  to  a  tumultuous  assembly,  the  Court  would  un 
questionably  have  put  their  own  construction  upon  it,  and 
decided  that  the  penalty  as  well  as  the  offence  was  to  be 
found  in  the  lex  non  scripta. 

The  witnesses  having  finished  their  testimony,  William 
Penn  acknowledged  that  both  he  and  his  friend  were  pres 
ent  at  the  place  and  time  mentioned.  "We  are  so  far," 
says  he,  "from  recanting,  or  declining  to  vindicate  the 
assembling  of  ourselves  to  preach,  pray,  or  worship  the 
eternal,  holy,  just  God,  that  we  declare  to  all  the  world 
that  we  do  believe  it  to  be  our  indispensable  duty  to  meet 
incessantly  upon  so  good  an  account ;  nor  shall  all  the 
powers  upon  earth  be  able  to  divert  us  from  reverencing 
and  adoring  our  God,  who  made  us." 

These  words  were  scarcely  pronounced  when  Brown. 
one  of  the  sheriffs,  exclaimed  that  he  was  not  there  for 

T^ ]  'i  ping   afn'\i  but   for   breaking   the  law.     William 

Penn  replied  that  he  had  broken  no  law,  and  desired  to 
know  by  what  law  it  was  that  they  prosecuted  him,  and 
upon  what  law  it  was  that  they  founded  the  indictment. 


OF.    WILLIAM    P  E N N .  89 

The  Recorder  replied,  the  common  law.  William  asked 
where  that  law  was.  The  Recorder  did  not  think  it  worth 
while,  he  said,  to  run  over  all  those  adjudged  cases  for  so 
many  years,  which  they  called  common  law,  to  satisfy  his 
curiosity.  William  Penn  thought  if  the  law  were  com 
mon,  it  should  not  be  so  hard  to  produce.  He  was  then 
desired  to  plead  to  the  indictment ;  but  on  delivering  his 
sentiments  on  this  point,  he,  was  pronounced  a  saucy  fel 
low.  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  some  of  the  questions 
and  answers  at  full  length,  which  succeeded  those  now 
mentioned : 

Recorder. — The  question  is,  whether  you  are  guilty  of 
this  indictment. 

W.  Penn. — The  question  is  not,  whether  I  am  guilty  of 
this  indictment,  but  whether  this  indictment  be  legal.  It 
is  too  general  and  imperfect  an  answer  to  say  it  is  the 
common  law,  unless  we  know  where  and  what  it  is;  for 
where  there  is  no  law,  there  is  no  transgression';  and  that 
law  which  is  not  in  being,  is  so  far  from  being  common, 
that  it  is  no  law  at  all. 

Recorder. — You  are  an  impertinent  fellow.  Will  you 
teach  the  Court  what  law  is  ?  It  is  lex  non  scripta,  that 
which  many  have  studied  thirty  or  forty  years  to  know, 
and  would  you  have  me  tell  you  in  a  moment  ? 

W.  Penn. — Certainly,  if  the  common  law  be  so  hard  to 
be  understood,  it  is  far  from  being  very  common ;  but  if 
the  Lord  Coke  in  his  Institutes  be  of  any  consideration, 
he  tells  us  that  common  law  is  common  right,  and  that 
common  right  is  the  Great  Charter  privileges  confirmed. 

Recorder. — Sir,  you  are  a  troublesome  fellowT,  and  it  is 
not  to  the  honor  of  the  Court  to  suffer  you  to  go  on. 

8* 


90  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

W.  Penn. — I  have  asked  but  one  question,  and  you 
have  not  answered  me,  though  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  every  Englishman  are  concerned  in  it. 

Recorder. — If  I  should  suffer  you  to  ask  questions  till 
to-morrow  morning,  you  would  be  never  the  wiser. 

W.  Penn. — That  is  according  as  the  answers  are. 

Recorder. — Sir,  we  must  not  stand  to  hear  you  talk 
all  night. 

W.  Penn. — I  design  no  affront  to  the  Court,  but  to  be 
heard  in  my  just  plea ;  and  I  must  plainly  tell  you,  that 
if  you  deny  me  the  oyer  of  that  law  which  you  say  I  have 
broken,  you  do  at  once  deny  me  an  acknowledged  right, 
and  evidence  to  the  whole  world  your  resolution  to  sacri 
fice  the  privileges  of  Englishmen  to  your  arbitrary  de 
signs. 

Recorder. — Take  him  away.  My  Lord,  if  you  take  not 
some  course  with  this  pestilent  fellow  to  stop  his  mouth, 
we  shall  riot  be  able  to  do  anything  to-night. 

Mayor. — Take  him  away.  Take  him  away.  Turn 
him  into  the  bale-dock. 

W.  Penn. — These  are  but  so  many  vain  exclamations. 
Is  this  justice  or  true  judgment?  Must  I,  therefore,  be 
taken  away,  because  I  plead  for  the  fundamental  laws  of 
England  ?  However,  this  I  leave  upon  the  consciences  of 
you,  who  arc  of  the  jury,  and  my  sole  judges,  that  if  these 
ancient  fundamental  laws,  which  relate  to  liberty  and 
property,  and  which  are  not  limited  to  particular  persua 
sions  in  matters  of  religion,  must  not  be  indispensably 
maintained  and  observed,  who  can  say  he  hath  a  right  to 
the  coat  upon  his  back  ?  Certainly  our  liberties  are  to  be 
openly  invaded,  and  our  estates  led  away  in  triumph  by 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  91 

e^  ery  malicious  informer  The  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth 
will  be  judge  between  us  in  this  matter. 

Recorder. — Be  silent,  there. 

W.  Penn. — I  am  not  to  be  silent  in  a  case  where  I  am 
so  much  concerned ;  and  not  only  myself,  but  many  ten 
thousand  families  besides. 

Soon  after  this  they  hurried  him  away,  as  well  as 
William  Mead,  who  spoke  also,  towards  the  bale-dock,  a 
filthy,  loathsome  dungeon.  The  Recorder  then  proceeded 
to  charge  the  jury.  But  William  Penn  hearing  a  part  of 
the  charge  as  he  was  retiring  stopped  suddenly,  and  rais 
ing  his  voice  exclaimed  aloud,  "  I  appeal  to  the  jury  who 
are  my  judges,  and  this  great  assembly,  whether  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  Court  are  not  most  arbitrary,  and  void 
of  all  law  in  endeavoring  to  give  the  jury  their  charge  in 
the  absence  of  the  prisoners.  I  say  it  is  directly  opposite 
to  and  destructive  of  the  undoubted  right  of  every  English 
prisoner,  as  Coke  on  the  chapter  of  Magna  Charta  speaks." 
Upon  this  some  conversation  passed  between  the  parties 
who  were  still  distant  from  each  other ;  after  which  the 
two  prisoners  were  forced  to  their  cells. 

Being  now  out  of  all  hearing,  the  jury  were  ordered  to 
agree  upon  their  verdict.  Four,  who  appeared  visibly  to 
favor  the  prisoners,  were  abused,  and  actually  threatened 
by  the  Recorder.  They  were  then  all  of  them  sent  out 
of  Court.  On  being  brought  in  again  they  delivered  their 
verdict  unanimously,  which  was,  "  Guilty  of  speaking  in 
Gracechurch  Street." 

The  magistrates  upon  the  bench  now  loaded  the  jury 
with  reproaches.  They  refused  to  take  their  verdict,  and 


92  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

immediately  adjourned  the  Court,  sending  them  away  for 
half  an  hour  to  reconsider  it. 

The  time  having  expired,  the  Court  sat  again.  The 
prisoners  were  then  brought  to  the  bar,  and  the  jury 
again  called  in.  The  latter  having  taken  their  place  de 
livered  the  same  verdict  as  before,  but  with  this  difference, 
that  they  then  delivered  it  in  writing,  with  the  signature 
of  all  their  names. 

The  magistrates  were  now  more  than  ever  enraged  at 
the  conduct  of  the  jury,  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  ex 
press  their  indignation  at  it  in  terms  the  most  opprobrious 
in  open  Court.  The  Recorder  then  addressed  them  as 
follows:  "Gentlemen,  you  shall  not  be  dismissed  till  we 
have  a  verdict  such  as  the  Court  will  accept;  and  you 
shall  be  locked  up  without  meat,  drink,  fire,  and  tobacco  ; 
you  shall  not  think  thus  to  abuse  the  Court ;  we  will  have 
a  verdict  by  the  help  of  God,  or  you  shall  starve  for  it." 

William  Penn,  upon  hearing  this  address,  immediately 
spoke  as  follows:  "My  jury,  who  are  my  judges,  ought 
not  to  be  thus  menaced;  their  verdict  should  be  free  and 
not  compelled ;  the  Bench  ought  to  wait  upon  them,  and 
not  to  forestall  them.  I  do  desire  that  justice  may  be 
done  me,  and  that  the  arbitrary  resolves  of  the  Bench  may 
not  be  made  the  measure  of  my  jury's  verdict." 

Other  words  passed  between  them;  after  which  the 
Court  was  about  to  adjourn,  and  the  jury  to  be  sent  to 
their  chamber,  and  the  prisoners  to  their  loathsome  hole, 
when  William  Penn  observed  that  the  agreement  of  twelve 
men  was  a  verdict  in  law ;  and  such  a  verdict  having  been 
given  by  the  jury,  he  required  the  clerk  of  the  peace  to 
record  it,  as  he  would  answer  it  at  his  peril ;  and  if  the 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  93 

jury  brought  in  another  verdict  contrary  to  this  he  affirmed 
that  they  would  be  perjured  in  law.  Then  turning  to  the 
jury  he  said  additionally,  "  You  are  Englishmen.  Mind 
your  privilege.  Give  not  away  your  right." 

The  Court  swore  several  persons  to  keep  the  jury  all 
night  without  meat,  drink,  fire,  tobacco,  or  any  other  ac 
commodation  whatsoever,  and  then  adjourned  till  seven 
the  next  morning. 

The  next  morning,  which  was  the  First  day  of  the  week, 
the  jury  were  again  called  in,  but  they  returned  the  same 
verdict  as  before.  The  Bench  now  became  outrageous, 
and  indulged  in  the  most  vulgar  and  brutal  language,  such 
indeed  as  would  be  almost  incredible,  if  it  were  not  upon 
record.  The  jury  were  again  charged,  and  again  sent  out 
of  Court ;  again  they  returned,  again  they  delivered  the 
same  verdict,  again  they  were  threatened.  William  Penn 
having  spoken  against  the  injustice  of  the  Court  in  having 
menaced  the  jury,  who  were  his  judges  by  the  Great 
Charter  of  England,  and  in  having  rejected  their  verdict, 
the  Lord  Mayor  exclaimed,  "  Stop  his  mouth,  gaoler;  bring 
fetters,  and  stake  him  to  the  ground."  William  Penn 
replied,  "  Do  your  pleasure ;  I  matter  not  your  fetters." 
The  Recorder  observed,  "  Till  now  I  never  understood  the 
reason  of  the  policy  and  prudence  of  the  Spaniards  in 
suffering  the  Inquisition  among  them;  and  certainly  it 
will  never  be  well  with  us  till  something  like  the  Spanish 
Inquisition  be  in  England."  Upon  this  the  jury  were 
ordered  to  withdraw  to  find  another  verdict ;  but  they 
refused,  saying  they  had  already  given  it,  and  that  they 
could  find  no  other.  The  Sheriff  then  forced  them  away. 
Several  persons  were  immediately  sworn  to  keep  them 


94  PASSAGES    FROM    T  H  E    LIFE 

without  any  accommodation  as  before,  and  the  Court  ad 
journed  till  seven  the  next  morning1. 

The  next  day  the  jury,  who  had  received  no  refreshments 
for  two  days  and  two  nights,  were  again  called  in  and  the 
business  resumed.  The  Court  demanded  a  positive  answer 
to  these  words,  "  Guilty  or  not  guilty  ?  "  The  foreman 
of  the  jury,  Edward  Bushell,  replied,  "  Not  guilty."  Every 
juryman  was  then  required  to  repeat  this  answer  separate 
ly.  This  he  did  to  the  satisfaction  of  almost  all  in  Court. 
The  following  address  and  conversation  then  passed. 

Recorder. — Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I  am  sorry  you 
have  followed  your  own  judgments  rather  than  the  good 
advice  which  was  given  you.  God  keep  my  life  out  of 
your  hands !  But  for  this  the  Court  fines  you  forty  marks 
a  man,  and  imprisonment  till  paid. 

W.  Penn. — I  demand  my  liberty,  being  freed  by  the 
jury. 

Mayor. — No.    You  are  in  for  your  fines. 

W.  Penn. — Fines  for  what  ? 

Mayor. — For  contempt  of  Court. 

W.  Penn. — I  ask  if  it  be  according  to  the  fundamental 
laws  of  England  that  any  Englishman  should  be  fined  or 
amerced  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers  or  jury,  since 
it  expressly  contradicts  the  fourteenth  and  twenty-ninth 
chapters  of  the  Great  Charter  of  England,  which  says 
"  No  freeman  shall  be  amerced  but  by  the  oath  of  good 
and  lawful  men  of  the  vicinage." 

Recorder. — Take  him  away. 

W.  Penn. — I  can  never  urge  the  fundamental  laws  of 
England  but  you  cry,  ''Take  him  away;"  but  it  is  no 
wonder,  since  the  Spanish  Inquisition  has  so  great  a  place 


OF     WIT,  LI  AM     PENX.  95 

in  the  Recorder's  heart.  God,  who  is  just,  will  judge  you 
for  all  these  thing's." 

These  words  were  no  sooner  uttered  than  William  Penn 
and  his  friend,  William  Mead,  were  forced  into  the  bale- 
dock,  from  whence  they  were  sent  to  Newgate.  Every 
one  of  the  jury  also  were  sent  to  the  latter  prison. 

Thus  ended  this  famous  trial,  which  was  sustained  by 
William  Penn  with  so  much  ability  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five. 

A  few  days  afterwards  he  wrote  to  Admiral  Penn : 

"  DEAR  FATHER  : — I  desire  thee  not  to  be  troubled  at 
my  present  confinement ;  I  could  scarce  suffer  on  a  better 
account  nor  by  a  worse  hand,  and  the  will  of  God  be  done. 
It  is  more  grievous  and  uneasy  to  me  that  thou  should  be 
so  heavily  exercised,  God  Almighty  knows,  than  any 
worldly  concernment.  I  am  cleared  by  the  jury ;  and  they 
are  here  in  my  place,  and  resolved  to  lie  till  they  get  out 
by  law.  Every  six  hours  they  demand  their  freedom  by 
advice  of  counsel. 

"  They  (the  Court)  have  so  overshot  themselves  that  the 
generality  of  people  much  detest  them.  I  entreat  thee  not 
to  purchase  my  liberty. 

"  I  desire  in  fervent  prayer  the  Lord  God  to  strengthen 
and  support  thee,  and  to  anchor  thy  mind  in  thoughts  of 
the  immutable  blessed  state  which  is  over  all  perishing 
concerns. 

"  I  am,  dear  father,  thy  obedient  son, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

The  next  day  he  wrote : 


96  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

"DEAR,  FATHER: — I  am  truly  grieved  to  hear  of  thy 
present  illness.  If  God,  in  his  holy  will,  did  see  meet 
that  I  should  be  freed,  I  could  heartily  embrace  it ;  yet, 
considering  I  cannot  be  free  but  upon  such  terms  as 
strengthen  their  arbitrary  and  base  proceedings,  I  rather 
choose  to  suffer  any  hardship. 

"  I  am  not  without  hope  that  the  Lord  will  sanctify  the 
endeavors  of  thy  physician  unto  a  cure,  and  then  much  of 
my  solicitude  will  be  at  an  end.  Solace  thy  mind  in  the 
thoughts  of  better  things,  dear  father." 

There  had  never  been  in  England,  up  to  this  period,  a 
settled  and  defined  usage  with  regard  to  verdicts.  Judges 
had  sometimes  fined  inconvenient  and  persistent  juries, 
and  it  had  practically  been  an  undetermined  question  how 
far  they  had  a  right  to  bring  in  verdicts  contrary  to  the 
views  of  the  court.  This  great.,  point  was  now  to  be  de 
cided.  Suit  was  brought  by  Edward  Bushell  and  his  fel 
low  jurors  against  Sir  Samuel  Starling,  the  Lord  Mayor, 
and  Sir  John  Howell,  the  Recorder  of  London,  for  illegal 
imprisonment. 

The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  adopted  the  view  that  the 
bench,  though  at  liberty  to  offer  suggestions  to  the  jury 
men  for  their  consideration,  may  not  lawfully  coerce  them; 
and  confirmed  the  doctrine  of  Lord  Coke,  that  the  jury, 
and  not  the  judge,  were  the  arbiters  in  regard  to  facts; 
and  that  the  province  of  the  judge  was  to  point  out  and 
apply  the  law  to  such  facts  as  are  found  by  the  jury.  The 
issue  of  the  trial  was  that  the  prisoners  were  ordered  to 
be  discharged. 

This  celebrated  trial  was  productive  of  important  bene- 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  97 

fieial  results  to  the  people  of  England.  It  awakened  their 
attention  to  the  arbitrary  and  oppressive  proceedings  of  the 
courts  under  the  pretended  sanction  of  law,  by  which  the 
most  flagrant  violations  of  justice  were  often  practised  with 
impunity.  The  able  and  undaunted  manner  in  which  the 
prisoners  contended  for  their  rights  and  liberties,  and  the 
noble  stand  made  by  the  jurors  against  the  rude  and 
shameless  attempts  of  the  Court  to  browbeat  and  intimi 
date  them,  opened  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  their  true  in 
terests,  and  the  necessity  of  claiming  their  chartered  priv 
ileges  :  and  thus  the  trial  was  instrumental  in  establishing 
them  on  a  firmer  basis  than  they  ever  were  before ;'  the 
freedom  of  juries  being  now  asserted  by  a  solemn  judicial 
decision. 

Admiral  Penn  was  fast  descending  to  the  grave,  and 
very  desirous  of  the  company  and  consolation  of  his  son  ; 
he  therefore  did  not  choose  to  wait  the  tardy  operation  of 
the  law,  but  privately  sent  the  money  and  procured  the 
discharge  of  both  the  prisoners.  Foreseeing  that  his  son 
must  often  be  subjected  to  inconvenience  from  the  perse 
cuting  laws  of  the  time,  he  sent  one  of  his  friends  to  the 
Duke  of  York  with  his  dying  request,  that  he  would  en 
deavor  to  protect  his  son,  as  far  as  he  consistently  could, 
and  that  he  would  desire  the  king  to  do  the  same  in  case 
of  future  persecution.  The  answers  both  from  the  king 
and  the  duke  were  favorable  to  the  wishes  of  the  Admiral. 
Only  eleven  days  were  left  to  Sir  William  Penn  after  the 
close  of  the  trial  at  the  Old  Bailey,  for  he  died  on  the  16th 
of  the  same  month. 

At  a  time  of  serious  reflection  and  not  long  before  his 
death,  he  spoke  thus :  "  Son  William,  I  am  weary  of  the 
9  G 


08  PASSAGES    FROM     THE    LIFE 

world.  I  would  not  live  over  my  days  again  if  I  could 
command  them  with  a  wish ;  for  the  snares  of  life  are 
greater  than  the  fears  of  death.  This  troubles  me,  that  I 
have  offended  a  gracious  God.  The  thought  of  this  has 
followed  me  to  this  day.  Oh,  have  a  care  of  sin !  It  is 
that  which  is  the  sting  both  of  life  and  death.  Three 
things  I  commend  to  you.  First,  let  nothing  in  this 
world  tempt  you  to  wrong  your  conscience  ;  I  charge  you 
do  nothing  against  your  conscience ;  so  will  you  keep 
peace  at  home,  which  will  be  a  feast  to  you  in  a  day  of 
trouble.  Secondly,  whatever  you  design  to  do  lay  it 
justly  and  time  it  seasonably,  for  that  gives  security  and 
despatch.  Thirdly,  be  not  troubled  at  disappointments ; 
for  if  they  may  be  recovered,  do  it ;  if  they  cannot, 
trouble  is  then  vain.  If  you  could  not  have  helped  it, 
be  content ;  there  is  often  peace  and  profit  in  submitting 
to  Providence  ;  for  afflictions  make  wise.  If  you  could 
have  helped  it,  let  not  your  trouble  exceed  instruction  for 
another  time.  These  rules  will  carry  you  with  firmness 
and  comfort  through  this  inconstant  world." 

Just  before  he  died,  looking  at  his  son  with  the  most 
composed  countenance,  he  said,  "  Son  William,  if  you  and 
your  friends  keep  to  your  plain  way  of  preaching,  and 
keep  to  your  plain  way  of  living,  you  will  make  an  end 
of  the  priests  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Bury  me  by  my 
mother.  Live  all  in  love.  Shun  all  manner  of  evil.  And 
I  pray  God  to  bless  you  all,  and  He  will  bless  you  all." 


OF     WILLIAM     PEN  N.  99 


V. 

DURING  the  winter  of  1670  William  Pcnn  resided  at 
the  old  family  seat  in  Buckinghamshire.  A  pamphlet 
falling  into  his  hands  which  contained  a  professed  sum 
mary  of  the  doctrines  held  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
he  wrote  a  reply  to  it,  which  he  entitled  "A  SEASONABLE 
CAVEAT  AGAINST  POPERY." 

To  prevent  a  misapprehension  of  his  design,  he  dis 
tinctly  stated  in  his  preface  that  he  fully  believed  many 
of  the  Romanists  w^ere  abused  zealots  (ignorantly  zealous) 
through  the  idle,  voluminous  traditions  of  their  church, 
whom  he  rather  pitied  than  dared  to  wrong,  and  that  he 
had  no  design  to  incense  the  civil  magistrate  against  them, 
for  he  professed  himself  a  friend  to  universal  toleration  in 
regard  to  faith  and  worship. 

From  the  manner  in  which  he  treated  his  subject 
throughout  the  essay,  and  more  especially  from  some  ob 
servations  near  the  close,  it  appears  that  he  entertained 
some  apprehension  that  efforts  were  then  about  being 
made,  near  the  court,  to  rcintroduce  the  popish  religion  in 
its  ancient  splendor  into  England.  The  doctrines  and 
practice  of  the  Romish  church  are  exposed  with  great 
freedom  and  severity.  The  inconsistency  of  many  of 
their  tenets  with  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  with  right 
reason,  with  the  opinions  of  the  early  Christians,  and  with 
each  other,  are  clearly  pointed  out. 

William  Penn  soon  after  took  a  shcrt  journey,  in  the 


100  PASSAGES     F  11  O  M     T  HE     L  I  F  E 

course  of  which  it  happened  that  he  stopped  at  Oxford. 
Learning  there  that  several  of  the  members  of  .his  own 
Society  had  been  treated  with  great  cruelty  by  the  stu 
dents  on  account  of  their  religious  meetings,  and  having 
reason  to  believe  that  the  vice-chancellor  himself  was  not 
blameless  in  that  respect,  he  addressed  to  him  a  letter,  of 
which  the  following  is  the  introductory  sentence : 

"  Shall  the  multiplied  oppressions,  which  thou  continucst 
to  heap  upon  innocent  English  people  for  their  peaceable 
religious  meetings,  pass  unregarded  by  the  Eternal  God  ? 
Dost  thou  think  to  escape  his  fierce  wrath  and  dreadful 
vengeance  for  thy  ungodly  and  illegal  persecutions  of  his 
poor  children  ?  I  tell  thee,  No.  Better  were  it  for  thee 
thou  hadst  never  been  born  Poor  mushroom,  wilt  thou 
war  against  the  Lord,  and  lift  up  thyself  in  battle  against 
the  Almighty  ?  Canst  thou  frustrate  his  holy  purposes, 
and  bring  his  determinations  to  nought?  " 

Never  perhaps  before  were  the  learning  and  dignity  of 
a  vice-chancellor  of  Oxford,  as  appears  by  this  extract,  so 
little  thought  of  as  on  this  occasion  by  William  Penn. 
But  we  find  that  this  man  was  an  active  persecutor  of  the 
non-conformists,  and  about  this  time  so  far  degraded  his 
station,  as  to  employ  an  unprincipled  fellow  to  travel  about 
the  country,  and  under  the  assumed  character  of  a  relig 
ious  professor,  insinuate  himself  into  the  company  and 
confidence  of  the  various  dissenters,  for  the  purpose  cf 
subjecting  them  to  the  penalties  prescribed  by  the  perse 
cuting  laws  of  the  time.  A  vice-chancellor  of  Oxford, 
who  could  employ  such  characters  to  effect  his  purposes, 
could  expect  but  little  deference  from  a  man  of  William 
Penn's  principles  and  understanding. 


OF     WILLIAM    PENN.  101 

After  his  return  from  Buckinghamshire  to  London,  Sir 
John  Robinson,  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  one  of  the 
judges  at  the  trial  of  William  Penn  and  William  Mead, 
at  the  Old  Bailey,  who  had  been  thwarted  and  overruled 
by  the  acquittal  of  the  jury  in  that  case,  sought  oppor 
tunity  to  entrap  him,  and  bring  him  to  a  form  of  trial 
which  would  not  require  a  jury.  He  was  a  nephew  of 
Archbishop  Laud,  vindictive  in  his  feelings  towards  dis 
senters,  cunning  and  unscrupulous,  and  irritated  by  Wil 
liam  Perm's  able  and  undaunted  defence.  Other  means 
of  securing  a  conviction  failing,  he  relied  on  tendering 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  which  he  knew  that  he  would  not 
take  because  of  his  conscientious  scruples  against  all 
oaths.  Having  obtained  information  that  he  was  to  be 
at  a  meeting  in  Wheeler  Street,  he  sent  a  sergeant  with 
a  file  of  soldiers  to  take  him.  They  took  their  station 
near  the  door,  where  they  waited  until  William  Penn 
stood  up  and  began  to  preach,  when  the  sergeant  pulled 
him  down,  and  led  him  to  the  door.  There  a  constable  and 
his  assistants  were  standing  ready  to  join  him,  and  they  con 
veyed  their  prisoner  to  the  Tower,  and  set  a. guard  over 
him.  In  the  evening  he  was  taken  before  the  lieutenant 
for  examination,  in  the  presence  of  Sir  Samuel  Starling, 
Sir  John  Sheldon,  and  others. 

When  the  examination  commenced,  Sir  John  Robinson 
inquired  his  name,  pretending  he  did  not  know  him,  not 
withstanding  their  recent  acquaintance  at  the  Old  Bailey, 
and  the  fact  that  he  had  a  mittimus  already  prepared,  with 
his  name  inserted.  When  they  were  about  to  prove,  by 
the  oaths  of  the  constables,  that  he  had  been  taken  at  a 
meeting,  he  requested  that  the  oath  might  not  be  adrnm- 
9* 


102  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

istercd,  for  he  freely  acknowledged  he  was  at  the  meeting 
at  Wheeler  Street,  and  spoke  to  the  people  there.  The 
oath,  however,  was  administered ;  but  though  the  witnesses 
testified  that  he  was  speaking  to  the  people,  they  could  not 
be  induced  to  declare  that  the  assembly  was  an  unlawful 
one.  This  appears  to  have  disconcerted  Robinson,  who 
relied  on  their  testimony  to  convict  him  under  the  Con 
venticle  Act.  He  then  told  William  Penn  that  they  were 
not  going  to  try  him  upon  that  act,  but  upon  one  passed 
in  1665,  usually  called  the  Oxford  act.  This  act,  in  its 
terms,  applied  to  "  parsons  and  others,  in  holy  orders,  who 
had  not  subscribed  the  act  of  uniformity,  and  yet  had 
taken  upon  them  to  preach,  in  unlawful  assemblies,  and 
to  instil  the  poisonous  principles  of  schism  and  rebellion 
in  the  hearts  of  his  majesty's  subjects,  to  the  church  and 
kingdom ; "  and  required  that  all  such  non-conformist 
ministers  should  take  an  oath  of  a  prescribed  form.  In 
case  of  refusal  to  take  the  oath,  they  were  subjected  to 
certain  disabilities,  under  heavy  forfeitures.  Any  tw. 
justices  of  peace,  upon  oath  made  before  them  of  any 
offence  committed  against  the  act,  were  empowered  to 
commit  the  offender  to  prison  for  six  months. 

William  Penn  immediately  showed  them  that  the  Ox 
ford  act  did  not  apply  to  him,  for  he  had  never  been  in 
orders  at  all.  Sir  John  Robinson,  however,  ordered  the 
oath  to  be  read,  and  inquired  whether  he  would  take  it  or 
not.  He  replied  that  he  was  conscientiously  restrained  from 
doing  all  that  he  was  required  by  the  oath  to  engage  not  to 
do,  and  therefore  the  oath  was  to  him  entirely  needless.  He 
informed  them  that  his  refusal  to  swear  was  not  on  ac 
count  of  the  matter  contained  in  the  oath ;  but  was 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  103 

founded  on  better  reasons  than  they  could  give  for  urging 
him  to  swear.  In  the  course  of  the  examination,  Sir  John 
told  him  "  he  had  been  as  bad  as  others ;  "  on  which  Wil 
liam  Penn  demanded  of  him  when  and  where.  He  re 
plied  "abroad  and  at  home,  too."  To  which  William 
Penn  returned  the  following  energetic  reply :  "  I  make 
this  bold  challenge  to  all  men,  women,  and  children  upon 
earth,  justly  to  accuse  me  with  ever  having  seen  me 
drunk,  heard  me  swear,  utter  a  curse,  or  speak  one  ob 
scene  word,  much  less  that  I  ever  made  it  my  practice.  I 
speak  this  to  God's  glory,  who  has  ever  preserved  me  from 
the  power  of  these  pollutions,  and  who  from  a  child  begot 
an  hatred  in  me  towards  them.  But  there  is  nothing  more 
common,  when  men  are  of  a  more  severe  life  than  ordi 
nary,  than  for  loose  persons  to  comfort  themselves  with 
the  conceit  that  they  were  once  as  they  are.  Thy  words 
shall  be  thy  burden,  and  I  trample  thy  slander  as  dirt 
under  my  feet."  The  following  dialogue  then  ensued : 

Sir  John  Eobimon. — Well,  Mr.  Penn,  I  have  no  ill-will 
towards  you ;  your  father  was  my  friend,  and  I  have  a 
great  regard  for  you. 

William  Penn. — But  thou  hast  an  ill  way  of  express 
ing  it. 

Robinson. — But  you  do  nothing  but  stir  up  the  people 
to  sedition. 

Penn. — Bring  me  the  man  that  will  dare  to  justify  this 
accusation  to  my  face ;  and  if  I  am  not  able  to  make  it 
appear  that  it  is  both  my  practice,  and  all  my  friends,  to 
instil  principles  of  peace  and  moderation,  and  only  to  war 
against  spiritual  wickedness,  that  all  men  may  be  brought 
to  fear  God  and  work  righteousness,  I  shall  contentedly 


104  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

undergo  the  severest  punishment  all  your  laws  can  expose 
me  to. 

Robinson. — Well,  I  must  send  you  to  Newgate  for  six 
months,  and  when  they  are  expired,  you  will  come  out. 

Penn. — Is  that  all  ?  Thou  knowest  a  larger  imprison 
ment  has  not  daunted  me.  I  accept  it  at  the  hand  of  the 
Lord,  and  am  contented  to  suffer  his  will.  Alas !  you 
mistake  your  interest,  you  will  miss  your  aim  ;  this  is  not 
the  way  to  compass  your  ends. 

I  would  have  thee  and  all  men  to  know  that  I  scorn  that 
religion  which  is  not  worth  suffering  for,  and  able  to  sus 
tain  those  that  are  afflicted  for  it.  Mine  is,  and  whatever 
may  be  my  lot  for  my  constant  profession  of  it,  I  am  no 
ways  careful,  but  resigned  to  answer  the  will  of  God  by 
the  loss  of  goods,  liberty,  and  life  itself.  Thy  religion 
persecutes,  mine  forgives  ;  and  I  desire  my  God  to  forgive 
you  all  that  are  concerned  in  my  commitment,  and  I  leave 
you  all  in  perfect  charity,  wishing  you  eternal  salvation. 

He  was  then  sent  to  the  noisome  prison  of  Newgate, 
to  expiate,  by  a  six  months'  confinement,  the  offence  of 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  his  brethren,  and  refusing  to 
disobey  the  commandment  of  Christ. 


OF     W  I  L  L  I  A  M     P  E  N  N  .  1 05 


VI. 

WILLIAM  PENN  did  not  permit  the  time  of  his  im 
prisonment  to  be  lost  to  himself  or  the  community : 
but  wrote  several  tracts,  chiefly  of  a  religious  character, 
which  were  soon  afterwards  given  to  the  world. 

The  first  of  these  is  entitled,  "  The  great  case  of  Lib 
erty  of  Conscience,  once  more  briefly  debated,  and  de 
fended  by  the  authority  of  reason,  Scripture,  and  an 
tiquity." 

In  the  preface  he  maintained  that  the  enaction  of  such 
laws  as  restrained  persons  from  the  free  exercise  of  their 
consciences  in  matters  of  religion,  was  but  "the  knotting 
of  whipcord  on  the  part  of  the  enactors  to  lash  their  own 
posterity,  whom  they  could  never  promise  to  be  conformed 
for  ages  to  come  to  a  national  religion." 

He  maintained  that  they  who  imposed  fetters  upon  the 
conscience,  and  persecuted  for  conscience'  sake,  defeated 
God's  work  of  grace,  or  the  invisible  operation  of  his 
Holy  Spirit,  which  alone  could  beget  faith  ;  that  they 
claimed  infallibility,  wThich  all  good  Protestants  rejected ; 
and  that  they  usurped  the  divine  prerogative,  assuming 
the  judgment  of  the  great  tribunal,  and  thereby  robbing 
the  Almighty  of  a  right  which  belonged  exclusively  to 
himself;  that  they  overthrew  the  Christian  religion  in  the 
very  nature  of  it,  for  it  was  spiritual,  and  not  of  this 
world;  in  the  very  practice  of  it,  for  this  consisted  of 


106  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

meekness ;  in  the  promotion  of  it,  for  it  was  clear  that 
they  never  designed  to  be  better  themselves,  and  they 
discouraged  others  in  their  religious  growth  ;  and  in  the 
rewards  of  it,  for  where  men  were  religious  out  of  fear, 
and  this  out  of  the  fear  of  men,  their  religion  was  condem 
nation  and  not  peace  ;  that  they  opposed  the  plainest  testi 
monies  of  Divine  writ,  which  concurred  in  condemning  all 
force  upon  the  conscience  ;  that  they  acted  contrary  to  all 
true  notions  of  government,  first,  as  to  the  nature  of  it, 
which  was  justice ;  secondly,  as  to  the  execution  of  it, 
which  was  prudence ;  and,  thirdly,  as  to  the  end  of  it, 
which  was  happiness. 

The  dissertation  is  closed  in  these  words  . 

"  Liberty  of  conscience,  as  thus  stated  and  defended, 
we  ask  as  our  undoubted  right  by  the  law  of  God,  of 
nature,  and  of  our  own  country.  It  has  been  often  prom 
ised.  We  have  long  waited  for  it,  we  have  written  much 
and  suffered  in  its  defence,  and  have  made  many  true  com 
plaints,  but  found  little  or  no  redress. 

"  But,  if  after  all  we  have  said,  this  short  discourse 
should  not  be  credited,  nor  answered  in  any  of  its  sober 
reasons  and  requests,  but  sufferings  should  be  the  present 
lot  of  our  inheritance  from  this  generation,  be  it  known  to 
them  all,  that  meet  we  must,  and  meet  we  cannot  but  en 
courage  all  to  do,  whatsoever  hardship  we  sustain,  in  God's 
name  and  authority  who  is  Lord  of  hosts  and  King  of 
kings,  at  the  revelation  of  whose  righteous  judgments  and 
glorious  tribunal  mortal  men  shall  render  an  account  of 
the  deeds  done  in  the  body  ;  and  whatever  the  apprehen 
sions  of  such  may  be  concerning  this  discourse,  it  was 
written  in  love,  and  from  a  true  sense  of  the  present  state 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  107 

of  thing's,  and  time  and  the  event  will  vindicate  it  from 
untruth.  In  the  meanwhile,  it  is  matter  of  great  satis 
faction  to  the  author,  that  he  has  so  plainly  cleared  his 
conscience  in  pleading  for  the  liberty  of  other  men's,  and 
publicly  borne  bis  honest  testimony  for  God,  not  out  of 
season  to  his  poor  country." 

Another  tract  was,  "  A  Serious  Apology  for  the  Princi 
ples  and  Practices  of  the  People  called  Quakers,"  in  reply 
to  the  aspersions  of  Thomas  Jenner  and  Timothy  Taylor, 
in  their  book  called  "  Quakerism  Anatomized." 

In  explanation  of  the  doctrine  of  Friends  on  the  subject 
of  immediate  revelation,  we  take  the  following  from  this 
work : 

"  By  revelation,  we  understand  the  discovery  and  illumi 
nation  of  the  light  and  spirit  of  God  relating  to  those 
things  that  properly  and  immediately  concern  the  daily 
information  and  satisfaction  of  our  souls  in  the  way  of 
our  duty  to  Him  and  to  our  neighbor. 

"  We  renounce  all  fantastical  and  whimsical  intoxica 
tions,  or  any  pretence  to  the  revelation  of  new  matter  in 
opposition  to  the  ancient  Gospel  declared  by  Christ  Jesus 
and  his  apostles ;  and  therefore  not  the  revelation  of 
new  things,  but  the  renewed  revelation  of  the  eternal 
way  of  Truth." 

On  the  subject  of  the  primary  rule  of  life,  he  says  : 

"Methinks  this,  our  demonstration,  should  satisfy  all ; 
when  neither  man  nor  Scriptures  are  near  us,  yet  there 
continually  attends  us  that  Spirit  of  Truth  which  imme 
diately  informs  us  of  our  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds,  and 
gives  us  true  directions  what  to  do  and  what  to  leave 
undone.  Is  not  this  the  rule  of  life  ?  If  ye  are  led  by 


108  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  spirit  of  God,  then  are  ye  sons  of  God.  Lot  this  suf 
fice  to  vindicate  our  sense  of  a  true  and  unerring  rule, 
which  we  assert  not  in  a  way  of  derogation  from  those 
holy  writings,  which  with  reverence  we  read,  believe,  and 
desire  always  to  obey  the  mind  and  will  of  God  therein 
contained ;  and  let  that  doctrine  be  accursed  that  would 
overturn  them." 

To  the  charge  that  Friends  were  displeased  with  others 
for  observing  times,  days,  and  hours,  he  says : 

"As  to  consecrated  days  and  times,  and  the  supersti 
tious  observation  of  them,  as  if  the  holiness  of  the  day 
called  loudly  on  us  for  our  particular  devotion,  as  being 
this  or  the  other  saints',  and  not 'that  our  devotion  rather 
required  a  time  to  be  performed  in  ;  this  we  are  displeased 
with,  and  boldly  testify  against,  as  beggarly  and  Jewish. 
What  said  the  apostle,  urged  by  his  godly  jealousy,  to  the 
Galatians?  But  now  after  ye  have  known  God,  or  rather 
are  known  of  God,  how  turn  ye  again  to  the  weak  and 
beggarly  elements,  whereunto  ye  desire  again  to  be  in 
bondage  ?  Ye  observe  days  and  months,  and  times  and 
years.  I  am  afraid  of  you,  lest  I  have  bestowed  upon  you 
labor  in  vain." 

"  Though  we  utterly  renounce  all  special  and  moral 
holiness  in  times  and  days,  yet  we  both  believe  it  requisite 
that  time  be  set  apart  for  the  worship  of  the  Almighty, 
and  are  also  everywhere  found  in  the  diligent  practice  of 
the  same.  And  howbeit  we  cannot  own  so  strict  an  insti 
tution  as  to  sabbatize  the  First  day,  or  that  it  has  any 
holiness  inherent  to  it ;  yet,  as  taking  tl  e  primitive  saints 
for  an  example,  with  godly  reverence  we  constantly  as 
semble  upon  it. 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  109 

"  His  charge  of  our  denying'  family  duties  is  equally 
false  with  all  the  rest ;  for  we  know  it  is  our  duty,  and 
it  is  also  our  practice,  to  retire  from  our  external  affairs 
and  wait  upon  the  Lord  every  day,  that  we  may  receive 
strength  from  Him,  and  feel  his  heavenly  peace  and  bless 
ing  to  descend  upon  us  at  our  rising  up  and  lying  down ; 
that  so  to  Him,  over  and  above  all  visible  things,  honor  and 
praise  may  be  returned,  who  is  worthy  forever." 

In  the  sixth  chapter  he  says : 

"  I  am  constrained,  for  the  sake  of  the  simple-hearted, 
to  publish  to  the  world,  of  our  faith  in  God,  Christ,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  We  do  believe  in  one  only  holy  God  Almighty,  who 
is  an  eternal  Spirit,  the  Creator  of  all  things. 

"And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  son,  and  ex 
press  image  of  his  substance,  who  took  upon  Him  flesh 
and  was  in  the  world;  and  in  life,  doctrine,  miracles, 
death,  resurrection,  ascension,  and  mediation,  perfectly 
did,  and  does  continue  to  do,  the  will  of  God ;  to  whose 
holy  life,  power,  mediation,  and  blood  we  only  ascribe  our 
sanctification,  justification,  redemption,  and  perfect  sal 
vation. 

"And  we  believe  in  one  Holy  Spirit  that  proceeds  and 
breathes  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  a  measure  of  which 
is  given  to  all  to  profit  with  ;  and  he  that  has  one  has  all ; 
for  those  Three  are  One,  who  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega, 
the  First  and  the  Last,  God  over  all,  blessed  forever. 
Amen."  • 

In  these  employments  of  his  pen  the  time  of  his  con 
finement  passed  away,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  six 
months  he  was  released.  It  appears  that  soon  after,  he 
10 


110  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

visited  Holland  and  some  parts  of  Germany,  in  the  capacity 
of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel ;  but  of  these  labors  or  the  fruits 
of  them  we  have  no  particular  account. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year,  King  Charles  issued  a  proc 
lamation,  suspending  the  execution  of  all  the  penal  laws 
against  non-conformists.  This  act  is  attributed,  by  his 
torians,  to  a  wish  to  favor  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  was 
considered  as  a  stretch  of  prerogative.  Its  practical  effect, 
however,  was  very  favorable  to  Friends — near  five  hundred 
of  them — who  had  been  imprisoned  upon  a  praemunire,  and 
some  who  had  been  detained  ^several  years,  being  set  at 
liberty,  and  the  rage  of  persecution  was  checked  for  a  time. 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  Ill 


VII. 

IN  the  beginning  of  1G72,  being  then  in  the  twenty-eighth 
year  of  his  age,  William  Pcnn  was  married  to  Gulielma 
Maria  Springett,  the  daughter  of  Sir  William  Springett, 
who  lost  his  life  in  the  war  between  the  king  and  Parlia 
ment,  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  His  widow  was  after 
wards  married  to  Isaac  Penington.  While  this  daughter 
was  yet  young  the  family  were  convinced  of  the  principles 
of  Friends, -and  became  valuable  members  of  the  Society. 
She  was  beautiful  in  person,  highly  accomplished,  of  great 
sweetness  of  disposition  combined  with  natural  dignity, 
and  much  esteemed' for  her  piety  and  benevolence.  After 
their  marriage  they  took  up  their  residence  at  Rickmans- 
worth,  in  Hertfordshire. 

His  marriage,  and  the  consequent  cares  of  a  family,  did 
not  prevent  the  exercise  of  his  ministerial  gift ;  for,  besides 
the  attendance  of  meetings  in  his  own  neighborhood,  he 
visited  Friends  in  the  course  of  the  year  in  Kent,  Sussex, 
and  Surrey.  He  closes  his  narrative  of  the  journey  in  the 
following  manner : 

"  The  Lord  sealed  up  our  labors  and  travels  according 
to  the  desire  of  my  soul  and  spirit  with  his  heavenly  re 
freshments  and  sweet  living  power  and  word  of  life,  unto 
the  reaching  of  all,  and  consoling  our  own  hearts  abun 
dantly.  Thus  hath  the  Lord  been  with  us  in  all  our  travels 


112  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

for  his  Truth,  and  with  his  blessings  of  ponce  arc  we  re 
turned,  which  is  a  reward  beyond  all  worldly  treasures." 

The  sunshine  of  royal  indulgence  soon  brought  from 
their  places  of  retreat  some  of  those  dissenters  who  kept 
out  of  sight  while  the  storm  was  spreading  its  rage  on  the 
heads  of  others.  The  persecuting  laws,  which,  together 
with  the  barbarous  manner  of  their  execution,  have  stamped 
an  indelible  stigma  upon  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  were 
probably  designed  by  their  authors  to  crush  the  Presby 
terians  and  Independents  on  account  of  their  political 
opposition  to  the  dominant  party.  Yet,  as  the  religion  of 
many  of  these  people  was  more  pliable  than  that  embraced 
by  William  Penn  and  his  fellow-professors,  the  burden  of 
persecution  fell  principally,  though  not  wholly,  on  the 
latter.  Their  unflinching  support  of  their  religious  meet 
ings,  and  their  constant  refusal  to  take  the  oaths  required 
of  them,  furnished  employment  and  plunder  for  the  harpies 
of  the  'aw.  Besides,  as  it  was  vain  to  expect  a  general 
conformity  to  the  religion  of  the  court  among  the  dissenters 
at  large  while  there  was  one  society  which  openly  refused 
to  mould  ks  doctrines  or  worship  to  the  opinions  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  the  principal  efforts  of  the  established 
clergy  appear  to  have  been  directed  to  their  suppression, 
from  a  conviction  that,  if  they  were  once  removed  out  of 
the  way,  the  other  dissenters  would  be  likely  to  yield  with 
more  facility. 

But,  while  they  thus  weathered  the  storm  and  sheltered 
the  heads  of  other  dissenters,  the  firmness  and  faithfulness 
of  Friends  carried  conviction  to  the  minds  of  many  re 
ligiously  disposed  persons  of  that  day,  who  were  induced 
to  abandon  the  societies  to  which -they  belonged,  and  unite 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  113 

in  fellowship  with  them.  This  sometimes  roused  the  zeal 
of  their  former  teachers,  and  occasioned  repeated  attacks 
upon  the  principles  and  characters  of  Friends. 

To  answer  these  attacks  gave  William  Penn  much  em 
ployment  during  the  first  year  of  his  residence  at  Rick- 
mansworth.  Among  others,  John  Faldo,  an  Independent 
teacher  near  Barnet,  finding  that  some  of  his  hearers  had 
united  with  Friends,  wrote  a  book  entitled  "  Quakerism 
no  Christianity."  William  Penn's  replies  to  this  and  two 
succeeding  attacks  from  the  same  source  cover  more  than 
two  hundred  pages  in  the  folio  edition  of  his  writings. 

lie  lays  down  the  doctrine,  that  although  it  pleased  God, 
at  the  opening  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  to  send  his 
Son  a  light  into  the  world,  yet  He  was  in  degree  spirit 
ually  manifested  in  all  ages  as  the  Word  of  God  nigh  in 
the  heart,  and  that  they  who  believed  in  and  obeyed  Him 
obtained  remission  of  sins  and  eternal  salvation.  Thus 
Christ  was  the  rock  which  followed  Israel,  and  whose  day 
Abraham  saw  and  was  glad.  That  Christianity  is  not  a 
mere  historical  belief  of  the  outward  acts  which  Christ 
performed  in  his  bodily  appearance,  but  a  firm  belief  in 
Him  that  so  appeared,  had  died,  rose,  and  ascended,  both 
as  testified  in  the  Scriptures  of  Truth  and  as  He  breaks 
in  upon  the  soul  by  his  divine  discoveries,  as  the  true  light 
enlightening  every  man. 

The  testimony  of  Friends  to  the  divine  light  or  mani 
festation  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  soul,  having 
been  made  an  occasion  to  charge  them  with  denying  his 
outward  manifestation,  the  falsehood  of  this  charge  is 
proved,  and  it  is  shown,  that  the  latter  being  universally 
admitted,  while  the  former  was  either  overlooked  or  de- 
1U*  H 


114  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

nied  by  many  of  the  professors  of  Christianity,  Friendn 
have  been  specially  called  to  bear  testimony  to  the  inward 
and  spiritual  appearance  of  Christ  to  the  soul,  a  measure 
of  whose  spirit  is  given  to  all,  reproving  the  unfruitful 
works  of  darkness  and  leading  to  a  true  knowledge  of  the 
way  of  life  and  salvation. 

In  the  Fourth  month,  1G73,  we  find  William  Penn,  in 
company  with  his  wife  and  George  Whitehead,  attending 
the  meetings  of  Friends  at  Bristol ;  but  of  this  journey 
no  particular  account  remains. 

His  time  appears  to  have  been  chiefly  occupied  in  writ 
ing  ;  and,  indeed,  the  works  produced  by  his  pen  in  this 
and  the  following  year  were  quite  enough  to  engross  the 
lime  of  a  man  of  ordinary  industry. 

Thomas  Hicks,  a  preacher  among  the  Baptists  of  Lori- 
don,  was  among  the  number  of  those  who  labored  to  ren 
der  the  Society  of  Friends  and  the  principles  which  they 
held  odious  in  the  sight  of  the  people  of  that  day.  He 
published  a  pamphlet,  called  "  A  Dialogue  between  a 
Christian  and  a  Quaker,"  so  artfully  managed  that  an  in 
cautious  reader  might  readily  suppose  this  pretended  dia 
logue  a  real  one.  Having  both  sides  of  the  controversy 
to  manage,  he  took  care  to  make  his  pseudo-Quaker  talk  in 
a  very  weak  and  ridiculous  manner,  and  utter  opinions 
grossly  erroneous  and  objectionable. 

The  controversy  in  writing  which  followed  between  him 
and  William  Penn  led  to  a  public  meeting,  by  agreement 
with  the  Baptists,  in  their  houso  at  Barbican,  London. 
The  principal  disputants  on  the  si  lie  of  the  Baptists  were 
Thomas  Hicks  and  Jeremy  Ives,  and  on  the  part  of  Friends, 
William  Penn,  George  Whitehead,  and  George  Keith. 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXX.  115 

II  may  perhaps  be  interesting  to  some  readers  to  see  a 
specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  the  opponents  o:  Friends 
in  that  day  attempted  to  unchristianize  the  Society.  The 
prevailing  mode  of  conducting  polemic  discussions  at  that 
time  was  to  reduce  the  propositions  which  were  intended 
to  be  established  into  syllogisms,  and  much  of  the  skill 
displayed  in  argument  consisted  in  the  facility  of  reduc 
ing  propositions  to  that  form. 

Thomas  Hicks  appears  to  have  commenced  the  dispute 
with  this  argument : 

They  that  deny  the  Lord's  Christ  are  no  Christians. 

But  the  Quakers  deny  the  Lord's  Christ. 

Therefore  they  are  no  Christians. 

To  this  William  Pcnn  returned,  "  I  deny  the  minor, 
viz.,  that  the  Quakers  deny  the  Lord's  Christ." 

Thomas  Hicks  replied,  they  that  deny  Christ  to  be  a 
distinct  person  without  them  deny  the  Lord's  Christ; 
but  the  Quakers  deny  Christ  to  be  a  distinct  person 
without  them,  therefore  the  Quakers  deny  the  Lord's 
Christ, 

William  Penn  then  desired  that  Thomas  Hicks  would 
explain  what  he  meant  by  the  term  person  ;  to  which  he 
answered  that  he  meant  the  man  Christ  Jesus.  William 
Penn  then  replied,  "  I  deny  the  minor,  viz.,  that  we  deny 
the  man  Christ  Jesus." 

Thomas  Hicks  replied,  "  I  prove  that  ye  deny  the  man 
Christ  Jesus  :  one  of  your  writers  asserts  that  Christ  was 
never  seen  with  carnal  eyes  nor  heard  with  carnal  ears." 
From  which  Jeremy  Ivcs  f  *amed  a  syllogism  :  "  He  that 
denies  that  Christ  was  ever  seen  with  canal  eyes  denies 
the  Lord's  Christ;  but  the  Quakers  deny  that  Christ  was 


116  PASSAGES    FJLOM    THE    LIFE 

e\er  seen  with  carnal  eyes,  therefore  the  Quakers  deny 
the  Lord's  Christ." 

George  Keith  then  replied  that  Christ,  as  God,  was 
never  seen  with  carnal  eyes,  but  as  man  He  was. 

William  Penn  explained  the  subject  by  stating,  that 
wicked  men  might  see  Him  in  his  bodily  appearance,  and 
yet  not  see  Him  to  be  the  Christ  of  God.  They  might 
see  his  manhood,  but  not  his  Christship.  This  was  illus 
trated  by  the  declaration  of  our  Lord  to  Peter,  when  he  had 
acknowledged  Him  to  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God,  viz.,  "  Flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee, 
but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  Hence,  he  inferred 
that  Peter  could  not  with  a  carnal  eye  have  seen  the 
Lord's  Christ,  much  less  could  wicked  men. 

Jeremy  Ives  then  asked,  "  Is  the  manhood  a  part  of  the 
Lord's  Christ?" 

To  this  William  Penn  returned  the  inquiry,  "  Is  this  to 
prove  the  charge  of  our  denying  the  Lord  Christ  ?  It 
seems  we  must  be  here  to  be  catechised,  and  ye  will  not 
answer  us  one  question,  yet  I  shall  answer  Jeremy  Ivcs's 
question  if  he  will  promise  to  answer  mine."  Jeremy 
Ives  promising  that  he  would,  William  Penn  replied,  that 
they  believed  that  holy  manhood  to  be  a  member  of  the 
Christ  of  God  ;  and  then  directing  his  discourse  to  Jeremy 
Ives,  he  asked,  "  Was  He  the  Christ  of  God  before  He  was 
manifest  in  the  flesh  ?  "  "  He  was,"  returned  Jeremy  Ives, 
"the  Son  of  God."  But  to  the  question  as  stated  by 
William  Penn,  he  would  not  answer.  His  silence  in  that 
case  was  attributed  to  the  prevalence  of  Socinian  opinions 
among  them,  which  William  Penn  probably  designed  to 
make  him  acknowledge  or  deny.  But  he  was  too  cautious 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  117 

to  do  cither.  William  Penn  adduced,  in  proof  of  the 
affirmative  of  his  own  question,  the  declaration  of  the 
apostle,  "They  all  drank  of  that  spiritual  Rock  that 
followed  them,  and  that  Rock  was  Christ." 

There  is  extant  the  fragment  of  a  letter  written  by 
William  Penn  to  George  Fox  on  this  occasion,  which 
further  illustrates  the  character  and  importance  of  the 
public  religious  discussions  of  those  days.  "  Thy  fatherly 
love,"  says  he,  "and  tender  care  I  do  with  all  gentleness 
and  true  respect  receive ;  but  thou  shalt  understand  the 
occasion  of  our  answer,  wherein  we  stated  that  '  the  holy 
manhood  was  a  member  of  the  Christ  of  God.' 

"  The  question  was,  '  If  the  manhood  were  a  part  of 
Christ  ? '  To  this  we  must  either  have  answered  nothing, 
or  only  a  Scripture,  or  in  the  terms  of  the  question,  or  as 
we  did. 

"  If  we  had  answered  nothing,  we  had  gratified  the 
enemy,  stumbled  the  moderate,  and  grieved  friends. 

"  If  a  Scripture,  it  had  been  no  way  satisfactory;  for 
the  question,  they  would  have  said,  was  not  about  the 
text,  but  about  the  understanding  of  it ;  and  they  would 
have  charged  us  with  so  wresting  it  to  a  mystical  sense, 
as  to  shut  out  the  person  that  appeared  in  the  flesh. 

"  Further,  if  we  had  answered  in  the  terms  of  the 
question,  we  had  taken  Christ  into  parts,  whereas  I  cried 
twice  to  them,  'Christ  is  not  to  be  divided  into  parts.' 
But  they  still  pressed  the  question,  six  thousand  people  I 
believe,  being  present,  and  many  of  them  were  desirous 
of  an  answer.  Upon  this  Friends  consented  that  it  should 
be  answered  them, '  that  the  manhood  was  a  part  of  Christ.' 
But  I  feared  the  word  part,  and  chose  rather  to  say  that 


118  PASSAGES     FHOM     THE    LIFE 

we  believed  the  holy  manhood  to  be  a  member  of  the  Christ 
of  God,  and  my  reasons  for  so  doing  were  these :  First. 
What  needed  we  to  grant  more  than  was  asked  ?  Friends 
only  desired  to  have  us  grant  that  the  manhood  was  a 
part  of  Christ,  in  order  to  overthrow  T.  Hicks's  attempts 
to  prove  us  no  Christians ;  and  that  was  of  so  great 
moment  in  that  solemn  and  great  assembly,  as  tongue 
cannot  utter.  Secondly,  Since  we  were  willing  to  go  no 
further  in  our  confessions  than  they  asked  at  our  hands, 
this  was  my  reas  >n  for  rejecting  the  word  part  for  member, 
to  wit,  that  a  boiy  may  be  taken  into  members  without 
breach  of  union,  but  not  into  parts.  A  member  divides 
not;  parts  divide.  Christ  is  called  the  head,  that  is,  the 
most  noble  member,  the  Church  the  body,  and  particulars 
are  styled  members  of  that  body.  Now  calling  these 
members  divides  them  not  into  parts.  Thirdly,  I  did  not 
say  it  was  but  a  member,  and  I  often  repeated  that  it  was 
of  and  belonging  to  Christ,  and  in  my  confession  at  the 
close  I  said,  that  we  believed  in  Christ,  both  as  He  was  the 
man  Jesus,  and  God  over  all  blessed  forever. 

"  But,  blessed  be  the  Lord  !  I  have  not  sought  to  compre 
hend  or  imagine  ;  but  as  I  am  furnished  upon  the  occasion 
so  it  goes.  I  value  the  invisible  touches  and  feeling  of 
heavenly  virtue  and  life  beyond  it  all,  nor  am  I  delighted 
with  these  matters ;  but,  dear  George,  I  confess  I  never 
heard  any  Friend  speak  so  fully  as  to  Christ's  manhood  as 
thyself.  I  think  so  much  in  print  in  our  name  as  a  people 
would  remove  much  prejudice,  and  the  contest  would  come 
more  to  power  against  power,  than  words  against  words. 
And  this  I  must  needs  say,  we  have  been  as  poor  tossed 
sheep  up  and  down,  much  abused,  vilified  and  belied  ;  but 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  119 

over  all  God  is  raising  the  strong  horn  of  his  salvation ; 
and  He  has  magnified  his  name  in  all  these  Imstles  and 
stirs ;  and  truth  has  manifestly  gotten  ground,  and  in  no 
one  thing  more  than  our  plain  confessions  of  Christ;  so 
much  had  the  devil  roosted  and  nestled  himself  in  them 
under  their  misapprehensions  of  our  words  in  that  par 
ticular  ;  and  if  any  weakness  attended  the  phrasing  of  it, 
I  hope  and  believe  the  simplicity  in  which  it  was  delivered 
will  hide  it  from  the  evil  watcher." 

From  the  narrative  of  this  controversy,  two  inferences 
maybe  fairly  deduced :  first,  That  the  only  tenable  ground 
upon  which  the  *  opponents  of  the  early  Friends  at 
tempted  to  divest  them  of  the  Christian  character  was  the 
greater  spirituality  of  their  doctrines.  And,  second,  That 
while  they  faithfully  and  fearlessly  maintained  their  testi 
mony  to  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
rejected  the  gross  and  carnal  constructions  so  generally 
given  to  the  declarations  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles, 
they  never  refined  away  the  plain  and  obvious  truths 
which  the  sacred  volume  contains.  They  in  fact  adhered 
very  closely  to  the  letter  as  well  as  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures. 

Alexander  Parker,  one  of  the  early  members  and  min 
isters  of  the  Society,  had  published,  about  the  year  165T, 
a  tract,  entitled  a  "  Testimony  of  the  Light  within,"  of 
which  Samuel  Grevill,  a  priest  near  Banbury,  wrote  a 
pretended  refutation.  The  doctrine  thus  assailed,  being 
one  of  great  importance,  and,  indeed,  lying  at  the  founda 
tion  of  the  testimony  which  Friends  believed  themselves 
called  to  support,  William  Penn  produced  a  pamphlet  en 
titled  "  Urim  and  Thunimim,  or  the  doctrines  of  Light 


120  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

and  perfection  maintained,"  proving  from  Scripture  tes 
timony  that  the  witness  for  God  in  the  n  ind  of  man  is 
the  light  of  Christ,  the  true  light  which  ligliteth  every 
man  that  cometh  into  the  world,  and  that  this  light  not 
only  discovers  to  us  what  is  sinful,  but  is  sufficient,  as  it  is 
followed  and  obeyed,  to  lead  out  of  all  sin  into  the  glori 
ous  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  He  lays  it  down  as 
the  reason  wThy  many  of  the  professors  of  religion  deny 
the  sufficiency  of  this  Divine  light  or  Holy  Spirit,  to  lead 
into  entire  redemption  and  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  whom 
to  know  is  life  eternal,  that  they  have  known  it  only  as  a 
reprover,  and  have  not,  for  want  of  obedience,  experienced 
the  salvation  from  sin  and  death  to  which  it  leads ;  and 
admonishes  his  readers  to  try  the  effect  of  obedience  to  its 
small  and  tender  appearances,  before  they  object  to  its 
nature  or  sufficiency. 

The  controversies  in  which  William  Perm  had  been 
hitherto  engaged,  were  with  persons  of  other  religious 
persuasions ;  but  at  the  time  to  which  we  arc  now  ar 
rived,  he  was  drawn  into  a  contest  with  some  who  pro 
fessed  to  hold  the  same  fundamental  doctrines  as  he  did. 
The  prime  mover  in  this  controversy  was  John  Perot,  a 
man  who  had  joined  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  appears 
to  have  possessed  more  imagination  than  judgment,  and 
much  higher  opinion  of  himself  than  his  attainments, 
natural  or  spiritual,  justified.  Imagining  himself  commis 
sioned  to  convert  the  pope,  he  procured  a  man  of  the  name 
of  John  Luff  to  accompany  him  on  this  embassy.  Arriv 
ing  at  Rome,  they  were  soon  arrested  and  cast  into  prison. 
John  Luff  was  confined  in  the  inquisition,  where  he  died, 
not  without  circumstances  exciting  the  opinion  that  he 


O  F     W  I  L  L  I  A  M     P  E  X  N  .  121 

was  privately  murdered.  John  Perot  was  committed  to 
the  "bedlam,  from  whence  he  occasionally  found  means  to 
transmit  letters  to  England  for  publication,  expressed  in 
the  apostolic  style,  signing  himself  "John,"  without  sur 
name.  After  being-  a  considerable  time  in  confinement, 
his  release  was  procured  by  the  solicitation  of  some  of  his 
friends,  and  he  soon  afterwards  returned  to  England.  The 
report  of  his  sufferings  at  Home,  which  common  fame  had 
exaggerated,  united  to  the  appearance  of  unusual  sanctity, 
gave  him  more  place  than  he  deserved  in  the  minds  of 
some  well  meaning,  but  not  very  judicious,  Friends.  Mis 
taking  the  suggestions  of  his  own  misguided  imagination 
for  the  indications  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  he  declaimed 
against  the-  practice  of  taking  off  the  hat  in  time  of 
prayer  as  a  piece  of  formality,  inconsistent  with  the  spirit 
uality  of  the  Christian  religion,  unless  they  felt  themselves 
divinely  required  so  to  do.  And  a  number  of  the  less  ex 
perienced  Friends  were  carried  away  with  his  notions,  and 
adopted  his  practice. 

As  Friends  had  always  considered  the  uncovering  of 
the  head,  when  they  approach  the  Supreme  Being  in 
prayer,  as  an  external  sign  of  the  homage  clue  to  Him, 
and  of  the  reverence  with  which  they  engage  in  that  sol 
emn  act,  George  Fox  labored  to  convince  those  Friends 
who  had  fallen  into  it,  of  the  impropriety  of  this  unseemly 
practice,  and  with  such  success  that  most  of  them  acknowl 
edged  their  error,  and  united  with  their  more  experienced 
brethren.  John  Perot,  however,  was  too  confident,  or  too 
obstinate,  to  change  his  course,  ana  was  at  length  disowned 
by  the  Society. 

After  his  disownmcnt,  a  pamphlet  was  published,  with 
11 


122  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

out  the  name  of  the  author,  but  attributed  to  him,  with 
the  title  of  "The  Spirit  of  the  Hat,"  to  which  William 
Perm  wrote  a  reply,  with  the  curious  title  of  "The  spirit 
of  Alexander  the  coppersmith  justly  rebuked."  Shortly 
after  the  appearance  of  the  latter,  a  second  anonymous 
pamphlet,  under  the  title  of  "Tyranny  and  Hypocrisy  de 
tected,"  was  given  to  the  world.  This  came  out  under  the 
character  of  a  reply  to  "The  spirit  of  Alexander  the  cop 
persmith  rebuked  ;  "  and  like  the  former,  was  understood 
to  be  the  work  of  John  Perot.  It  drew  a  rejoinder  from 
William  Penn,  which  he  styled  "  Judas  and  the  Jews  com 
bined  against  Christ  and  his  followers." 

This  controversy  assumes  a  degree  of  importance,  which 
it  would  not  otherwise  possess,  from  the  principles  in 
volved  in  it.  This  anonymous  writer  took  the  ground, 
that  those  wht>  refused  to  uncover  their  heads  at  the  time 
of  prayer,  were  led  to  this  practice  by  the  light  of  Truth 
in  their  own  minds,  and  that  a  requisition,  on  the  part  of 
other  Friends,  of  a  conformity  to  the  usages  of  the  So 
ciety  in  this  respect,  was  an  abridgment  of  their  Chris 
tian  liberty.  William  Penn  states  the  doctrine  as  unques 
tionably  true,  that  the  Divine  light  is  universal  and 
sufficient  to  lead  to  salvation,  and  that  every  man  ought 
to  follow  its  teachings  in  matters  of  faith  and  worship, 
The  dispute  between  them  was  not  in  regard  to  the  prin 
ciple,  but  to  its  application.  The  following  questions  are 
kid  down  as  including  the  matter  at  issue : 

1.  Whether  Christ  has  or  has  not  given  to  his  church, 
consisting  of  faithful  believers  and  obedient  walkers  by 
the  light  or  spirit  of  God  within,  a  just  sense,  relish,  and 
savor  of  those  spirits  which  the  great  enemy  of  man  may 


OF    WILLIAM    PEN  N.  123 

assume,  inder  plausible  appearances,  to  condemn  what  the 
church  has  practised,  or  to  introduce  what  the  church  has 
condemned  ? 

2.  Whether  such  a  society,  body,  or  church,  may  not, 
after  due  admonition  given  to  such  dissenting  or  innova 
ting  person,  lawfully  and  without  deviation  from  Chris 
tian  principles,  deny  their  communion  to  such  person  or 
persons,  as  a  testimony  against  the  spirit  by  which  they 
are  actuated? 

3.  Whether  such  person  or  persons  may  acknowledge 
the  truth  of  this  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Divine  light 
as  a  leader  and  guide,  and  yet  be  actuated  by  a  wrong 
spirit  to  the  production  of  rents  and  divisions,  and  then 
oppose  the  church  under  pretence  of  being  guided  by  this 
inward   light;    and   consequently  whether   such  persons 
ought  to  be  judged  by  any  for  acting  in  this  manner,  see 
ing  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  act  according  to  the  dictates  of 
the  light  of  Christ? 

4.  Whether  the  body  of  those  called  Quakers  or  their 
opposers  were  that  church  ? 

In  answer  to  the  first,  it  is  shown  that  such  a  power  of 
discernment  does  belong  to  the  true  church,  from  various 
passages  in  Scripture. 

The  second  is  also  answered  affirmatively,  both  from  the 
testimony  of  Scripture  and  the  reasonableness  of  the  case. 

In  regard  to  the  third  question,  it  is  stated  that  men 
may  acknowledge  and  believe  the  doctrine  of  the  inward 
light  of  Christ,  and  yet  mistake  the  suggestions  of  their 
own  dark  imaginations  for  the  leadings  of  this  divine 
light :  and  yet  neither  the  profession  nor  the  belief  of 
being  guided  by  it,  can  exempt  those  who  are  not  really 


1^4  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

led  by  it,  from  the  just  judgment  of  those  who  are.  If  the 
mere  profession  of  being  led  by  the  spirit  of  Truth  could 
exonerate  those  who  are  strangers  to  it  from  the  judgmei.t 
and  censure  of  such  as  actually  walk  in  the  Spirit,  a  door 
would  be  opened  to  all  kinds  of  libertinism.  Though  it  is 
the  duty  of  all  to  walk  in  the  light,  and  to  wait  for  it,  that 
by  it  they  may  be  instructed  in  the  way  of  life  and  salva 
tion,  yet  it  is  they  only  who  are  actually  led  by  it,  that 
can  rightly  discern  between  the  false  spirits  and  the  true. 

The  fourth  question  was  one  upon  which  the  applica 
tion  of  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  answers  to  the 
former  three  essentially  depended.  Whether  the  body  of 
those  who  were  called  Quakers,  or  the  few  who  were 
joined  with  John  Perot,  were  the  true  church,  acting 
under  the  influence  of  the  divine  light  ?  Though  the 
number  of  those  who  adhered  to  John  Perot  appears  to 
have  borne  a  very  small  proportion  to  the  number  of 
those  who  discarded  his  notions,  yet  our  author  does  not 
build  any  part  of  his  argument  on  this  basis,  lie  raises 
it  on  a  much  more  solid  foundation. 

According  to  the  concessions  of  John  Perot,  the  Society 
at  one  time  was  a  true  church,  with  a  living  and  powerful 
ministry  ;  among  whom  the  everlasting  Gospel  was 
preached,  and  by  which  the  church  was  greatly  in 
creased.  Now,  as  the  dissatisfaction  of  John  Perot  and 
his  party  did  not  arise  from  any  change  in  the  principles 
or  practice  of  the  Society,  but  grew  out  of  their  own  in 
novations,  the  Society  was  the  same  church  still,  but  they 
were  not  the  same  members.  Harmony  prevailed,  and 
religious  refreshment  was  experienced  among  them,  till 
the  innovation  of  keeping  on  the  hat  in  the  time  of  public 


OF    WILT,  T  AM     PENX.  125 

prayer  was  attempted.  The  change  of  character  must, 
therefore,  be  attributed  to  those  who  had  adopted  thi,-j 
innovation,  and  not  to  those  who  refused  it. 

Besides  the  works  already  mentioned,  he  wrote,  in  the 
course  of  this  year,  several  letters  of  a  religious  character, 
which  are  still  extant. 

One  to  Justice  Fleming,  deputy  lieutenant  of  West 
moreland,  who,  it  appears,  had  used  considerable  severity 
towards  Friends  in  that  county.  In  this  letter  he  says : 

"  The  obligation  which  thy  civility  laid  upon  the  person 
who  is  now  my  wife,  when  in  the  north  in  1664,  is,  with 
her  being  so,  become  mine.  Not  to  acknowledge,  though 
I  could  never  retaliate  it,  were  a  rudeness  I  have  not 
usually  been  guilty  of ;  for,  however  differing  I  am  from 
other  men  circa  sacra,  that  is,  relative  to  religious  mat 
ters,  and  to  that  world  which,  respecting  men,  may  be 
said  to  begin  when  this  ends,  I  know  no  religion  which 
destroys  courtesy,  civility,  and  kindness.  These,  rightly 
understood,  are  great  indications  of  true  men,  if  not  of 
good  Christians."  And  a  little  further  on  he  adds:  "That 
way  is  but  a  bad  way  of  making  Christians,  which  destroys 
their  constitutions  as  men."  He  then  in  plain  but  respect 
ful  terms  pointed  out  the  folly  as  well  as  injustice  of  at 
tempting  to  change  the  opinions  of  men  by  the  application 
of  force. 

The  declaration  of  indulgence  to  those  who  dissented 
from  the  established  church,  which  was  issued  by  the 
king  in  1671,  was  not  long  permitted  to  pass  unopposed. 
From  the  character  of  the  reigning  monarch,  and  the 
measures  of  the  court,  it  was  inferred  that  this  act  of 
indulgence  was  not  designed  for  the  relief  of  Protestant 
11* 


126  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    I,  I  F  E 

dissenters,  so  much  as  the  protection  of  Roman  Catholics; 
and,  at  all  events,  it  was  obviously  an  assumption  of 
power  under  the  character  of  the  royal  prerogative,  which 
excited  the  jealousy  even  of  those  who  would  have  gladly 
obtained  the  same  indulgence  in  a  constitutional  way.  The 
Parliament  Avhich  met  in  1GT3  complained  of  this  suspen 
sion  of  tho  penal  laws  by  the  dispensing  power  of  the 
crown,  as  one  of  the  grievances  to  be  redressed ;  and 
having  the  power  of  granting  or  withholding  supplies, 
they  used  it  in  this  case,  so  that  their  prodigal  and  needy 
monarch  revoked  his  proclamation  and  broke  the  seals 
with  his  own  hands. 

Though  the  Parliament  was  then  composed  of  men 
rather  more  favorable  to  toleration  than  in  the  early  part 
of  Charles  II. 's  reign,  yet,  when  the  declaration  of  indul 
gence  was  revoked,  no  effectual  measures  were  adopted  to 
secure  a  legal  toleration,  and  therefore  the  persecuting 
bigots  of  the  day  availed  themselves  of  that  revocation  to 
revive  the  Conventicle  Act,  and  to  renew  the  oppression 
of  conscientious  dissenters.  These  unrighteous  proceed 
ings  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  our  author,  and  fur 
nished  employment  for  his  pen  through  a  considerable 
part  of  the  year  1G74. 

Some  justices  of  the  peace  in  Middlesex  having  used  an 
unexpected  degree  of  harshness  towards  Friends  who  had 
assembled  at  a  meeting  in  their  neighborhood,  at  which, 
it  appears,  he  was  present,  he  addressed  a  respectful  letter 
to  them,  forcibly  appealing  to  their  own  understandings 
against  the  persecuting  measures  to  which  they  had  given 
countenance. 

In  that  letter  he  assumed  the  ground  that  the  king's 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  127 

declaration  of  indulgence  was  revoked,  not  because  there 
was  any  objection  to  its  principles,  but  on  account  of  the 
manner  of  the  grant.  He  further  urged  that  the  kingdom 
was  then  undisturbed,  that  there  was  consequently  no  just 
cause  for  the  execution  of  such  laws,  and  that  when  the 
reason  of  a  law  had  ceased,  the  law  itself  became  obsolete 
without  a  formal  repeal ;  and  that  it  was  very  questionable 
whether  the  law  by  which  Protestants  were  burnt  for  their 
opposition  to  the  church  of  Rome  had  ever  been  repealed. 
Laws,  he  observed,  were  either  fundamental,  and  therefore 
permanent,  or  enacted  upon  particular  emergencies,  and  to 
expire  of  themselves  when  the  cause  of  their  enactment 
had  passed  away.  He  says  :  "  We  came  not  to  our  liber 
ties  and  properties  by  the  Protestant  religion  ;  their  date 
rises  higher.  Why,  then,  should  a  non-conformity  to  it 
deprive  us  of  them  ?  The  nature  of  body  and  soul,  earth 
and  heaven,  this  world  and  that  to  come,  differs.  There 
can  be  no  reason  to  persecute  any  man  in  this  world  about 
anything  that  belongs  to  the  next.  Who  art  thou  (saith 
the  Holy  Scripture)  that  judgeth  another  man's  servant  ? 
He  must  stand  or  fall  to  his  master,  the  great  God.  Lef, 
tares  and  wheat  grow  together  till  the  great  harvest. 

"  Be  pleased  to  remember  that  faith  is  the  gift  of  God ; 
and  what  is  not  of  faith  is  sin.  We  must  either  be  hyp 
ocrites  in  doing  what  we  believe  in  our  consciences  we 
ought  not  to  do,  or  forbearing  what  we  are  fully  persuaded 
we  ought  to  do. 

"  Either  give  us  better  faith  or  leave  us  with  such  as  we 
have,  for  it  seems  unreasonable  in  you  to  disturb  us  for  this 
that  we  have,  and  yet  be  unable  to  give  us  any  other." 

"  I  am  well  assured  it  shall  less  repent  you  upon  your 


128  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     I,  I  F  F 

dying  bed,  to  have  acted  moderately  than  severely. 
You  cannot  but  know  how  fallible  Protestants  acknowl 
edge  themselves  to  be  in  matters  of  religion,  and,  conse 
quently,  with  what  caution  they  should  proceed  against 
any  about  religion."  "  I  love  and  honor  all  virtuous 
persons  that  differ  from  me,  and  hope  God  will  have  regard 
to  every  such  one,  according  to  his  sincerity.  And,  how 
ever  it  shall  please  you  to  deal  with  us  at  this  or  any  other 
time,  I  pray  God  to  forgive  you,  open  your  eyes,  tender 
your  hearts,  and  make  you  sensible  how  much  more 
moderation  and  virtue  are  worth  your  study  and  pursuit 
than  the  disturbance  of  religious  dissenting  assemblies, 
that,  so  far  as  I  know  of  them,  desire  to  honor  the  king, 
love  their  neighbors  as  themselves,  and  do  unto  all  men 
as  they  would  have  all  men  do  unto  them." 

A  passage  from  the  fragment  of  autobiography  pub 
lished  by  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  relates 
to  this  period  of  William  Penn's  life. 

"  The  third  time  I  came  to  court  was  in  "T3,  having  not 
frequented  it  for  five  years.  The  business  that  drew  me 
thither  was  the  imprisonment  of  that  servant  of  God,  my 
worthy  friend  George  Fox,  in  Worcester  Castle  ;  the  cause, 
worshipping  God  after  another  manner  than  that  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  and  lest  it  should  prove  too  feeble  a 
tie  to  hold  him,  the  justices  of  the  peace  that  had  laid  his 
commitment  officiously  tendered  him  the  oaths  of  allegi 
ance  and  supremacy,  not  that  he  should  take  them,  but 
because  they  were  pretty  sure  he  would  not  take  them, 
as  a  supplemental  snare  to  gratify  their  humor  and  accom 
plish  their  design  against  him.  This  ending  in  a  pricmu- 
nire,  and  finding-  no  applications  in  the  country  were  likely 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  129 

to  succeed  for  his  deliverance  out  of  the  hands  of  some 
very  angry,  obstinate  persons,  it  was  resolved  amongst  us 
at,  London  to  remove  him  by  habeas  corpus  to  the  King's 
I5ench,  and  try  what  we  could  do  at  the  court  to  procure 
his  discharge. 

"  It  fell  to  my  lot  to  go  on  this  errand,  in  which-solici- 
tation  William  Mead  accompanied  me. 

"After  something  I  said  as  an  introduction  to  the  busi 
ness,  I  delivered  the  Duke  of  York  our  request.  He  pe 
rused  it,  and  then  told  us  'that  he  was  against  all  perse 
cution  for  the  sake  of  religion.  That  it  was  true  he  had, 
in  his  younger  time,  been  warm,  especially  when  he  thought 
people  made  it  a  pretence  to  disturb  government,  but  that 
lie  had  seen  and  considered  things  better,  and  he  was  for 
doing  to  others  as  he  would  have  others  do  unto  him  ; 
and  he  thought  it  would  be  happy  for  the  world  if  all 
were  of  that  mind;  for  he  was  sure,'  he  said,  '  that  no 
man  \vas  willing  to  be'  persecuted  himself  for  his  own 
conscience.'  He  added  that '  he  looked  upon  us  as  a  quiet, 
industrious  people,  and  though  he  was  not  of  our  judg 
ment,  yet  he  liked  our  good  lives,'  with  much  more  to  the 
same  purpose,  promising  he  would  speak  to  his  brother, 
and  doubted  not  but  that  the  king's  counsel  would  have 
orders  in  our  friend's  favor. 

"I  and  my  companion  spoke,  as  occasion  offered,  to 
recommend  both  our  business  and  our  character,  but  the 
less  because  he  prevented  us  in  the  manner  I  have  ex 
pressed. 

"  When  he  had  done  upon  this  affair,  he  was  pleased  to 
lake  a  very  particular  notice  of  me,  both  for  the  relation 
my  father  had  had  to  his  service  in  the  navy,  and  the 

I 


130  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

care  he  had  promised  him  to  show  in  my  regard  upon  all 
occasions. 

"  That  he  wondered  I  had  not  been  with  him,  and  that 
whenever  I  had  any  business  thither  he  would  order  that 
I  should  have  access ;  after  which  he  withdrew,  and  we 
re  turned. 

"  This  was  my  first  visit  to  the  court  after  five  years' 
retirement,  and  this  the  success  of  it,  and  the  first  time  I 
had  spoken  with  him  since  '65.  That  it  should  he  grateful 
to  me  was  no  wonder ;  and,  perhaps,  that  with  some  was 
the  beginning  of  my  faults  at  court." 

The  following  letter  to  George  Fox  was  written  soon 
after  the  interview  above  related : 

"  DEAR  GEORGE  Fox  : — Thy  dear  and  tender  love  in  thy 
last  letter  I  received,  and  for  thy  business  thus :  a  groat 
lord,  a  man  of  noble  mind,  did  as  good  as  put  himself  in 
a  loving  way  to  get  thy  liberty/  He  prevailed  with  the 
king  for  a  pardon,  but  that  we  rejected.  Then  he  prcst 
for  a  more  noble  release,  that  better  answered  truth.  He 
prevailed,  and  got  the  king's  hand  to  a  release.  It  sticks 
with  the  Lord  Keeper,  and  we  have  used,  and  do  use,  what 
interest  we  can.  The  king  is  angry  with  him  (the  Lord 
Keeper),  and  promiscth  very  largely  and  lovingly ;  so 
that,  if  we  have  been  deceived,  thou  seest  the  grounds  of 
it.  But  we  have  sought  after  a  writ  of  error  these  ten 
days  past,  wellnigh  resolving  to  be  as  sure  as  we  can  ; 
and  an  habeas  corpus  is  gone  or  will  go  to-morrow  night. 
My  dear  love  saluter  thee  and  thy  dear  wife.  Things  are 
brave  as  to  Truth  in  these  parts;  great  conviction  upon 
the  people.  My  wife's  dear  love  is  to  you  all.  I  long 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  131 

and   hope  erelong  to  see  thce.      So,  dear   George  Fox, 
am,  etc., 

WILLIAM   PENN." 

George  Fox  having  been  brought  by  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  before  the  Court  of  the  King's  Bench,  Sir  Matthew 
Hale  discharged  him  by  proclamation. 

Persecution  now  raging  with  nearly  as  much  violence 
as  ever,  the  envious  magistrates  frequently  resorted  to 
their  old  expedient.  When  Friends  were  brought  before 
them,  and  could  not  be  convicted  of  any  offence,  they 
tendered  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  them  ;  and  upon  their 
refusing  to  swear,  they  were  subjected  to  the  extremely 
severe  penalties  designed  for  an  entirely  different  class  of 
people. 

To  evince  to  the  world  that  they  had  substantial  reasons 
for  refusing  to  swear,  William  Penn,  in  1675,  published  a 
treatise  on  oaths,  which  was  addressed  to  the  king  and 
Parliament.  The  author  first  shows  the  reason  of  oaths 
to  be  the  degeneracy  of  man  from  primitive  integrity; 
and  fortifies  his  opinion  by  the  testimony  of  a  number  of 
ancient  writers.  He  then  assigns  various  reasons  why  a 
Christian  ought  not  to  swear. 

"As  oaths  originate  in  perfidy,  they  ought  to  be  ex 
cluded  by  a  religion  that  establishes  integrity,  and  therefore 
takes  away  the  reason  of  them. 

"  They  abolish  the  distinction  between  men  of  veracity 
and  those  of  loose  and  perfidious  characters. 

(i  Oaths,  by  their  frequent  and  familiar  use,  have  lost 
the  awful  influence  which  is.  the  alleged  reason  for  their 
continuance. 


L32  PASSAGES     FROM     THE    LIFE 

"Those  who  entertain  a  just  sense  of  the  omnipresence 
of  God  have  no  need  of  an  oath  to  confine  them  to  the 
truth 

"  It  is  irreverent  to  appeal  to  God  as  a  witness  on  trivial 
occasions. 

"  The  example  and  precepts  of  our  Saviour  are  directly 
opposed  to  all  oaths ;  and  swearing  is  contrary  to  the 
nature  and  general  character  of  Christianity." 

He  cites  the  testimonies  of  a  great  number  of  the  an 
cient  Gentiles  and  of  several  Jewish  writers  in  disappro 
bation  of  swearing. 

He  next  gives  the  declarations  of  a  great  number  of 
Christian  fathers,  doctors,  martyrs,  and  early  reformers, 
from  Polycarp  to  Erasmus,  against  the  lawfulness  of 
swearing  under  the  Gospel  dispensation.  This  is  followed 
by  the  opinions  of  several  of  the  schoolmen  and  others, 
as  Thomas  Aquinas,  Cajetan,  etc.,  against  the  use  of 
oaths.  These  authorities,  extracted  from  a  number  of 
writers,  ancient  and  modern,  are  no  questionable  evidence 
of  the  industry  and  reading  of  William  Perm. 

But  this  work,  however  it  might  have  softened  some, 
had  not  the  least  influence  (such  was  the  religious  fury  of 
the  times)  where  it  was  most  to  be  desired.  Bigots  who 
had  power,  still  continued  to  abuse  it.  Persons  were 
thrown  into  gaol,  so  that  parents  and  their  children  were 
separated.  Cattle  were  driven  away.  The  widow's  cow 
was  not  even  spared.  Barns  full  of  corn  were  seized 
which  was  threshed  out  and  sold.  Household  goods  were 
distrained,  so  that  even  a  stool  was  not  left  in  some  cases 
to  sit  on.  These  enormities,  sometimes  took  place  on  sus 
picion  only  that  persons  had  preached  to  or  attended  a 


OF     WILLIAM     PPJXN.  133 

conventicle ;  and  to  such  length  were  they  carried,  that 
even  some  of  those  who  went  only  to  visit  and  sit  by  their 
sick  relations,  were  adjudged  to  be  a  company  met  to  pray 
in  defiance  of  the  law.  William  Penn  attempted  again  to 
stem  the  torrent  by  a  work  of  another  kind.  He  published 
a  treatise  under  the  following  title :  "  England's  present 
interest  considered  with  honor  to  the  Prince  and  safety  to 
the  people,  in  answer  to  this  question,  What  is  most  fit, 
easy,  and  safe  at  this  juncture  of  affairs  to  be  done  for 
quieting  differences,  allaying  the  heat  of  contrary  interests, 
and  making  them  subservient  to  the  interest  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  consibtent  with  the  prosperity  of  the  kingdom  ? 
submitted  to  the  consideration  of  our  superiors." 

He  answers  his  question  by  asserting  that  the  thing 
most  fit,  safe,  and  easy  to  be  done,  would  be  a  determina 
tion  by  the  Government,  first,  upon  an  inviolable  and 
impartial  maintenancc^of  English  rights;  secondly,  upon 
conducting  itself  so  as  to  act  upon  a  balance,  as  nearly  as 
it  could,  towards  the  several  religious  interests ;  and, 
thirdly,  upon  a  sincere  promotion  of  general  and  practical 
religion. 

"  Englishmen,"  he  said,  "had  birthrights.  The  first  of 
these  consisted  of  an  ownership  arid  undisturbed  posses 
sion,  so  that  what  they  had  was  rightly  their  owrn  and 
nobody's  else,  and  such  possession  and  ownership  related 
both  to  title  and  security  of  estate,  and  liberty  of  person 
from  the  violence  of  arbitrary  power.  This  was  the 
situation  of  our  ancestors  in  ancient  British  times.  They 
who  governed  afterwards,  the  Saxons,  made  no  alteration 
in  this  law,  but  confirmed  it.  The  Normans  who  came 
next  did  the  same.  William,  at  his  coronation,  made  a 
12 


134  PASSAGES     FROM     THE    LIFE 

solemn  covenant  to  maintain  the  good,  approved,  and  an- 
ci;  nt  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  inhibit  all  spoil  and  unjust, 
judgment.  The  same  covenant  was  adopted  by  his  suc 
cessors,  and  confirmed  by  Magna  Charta. 

"  The  second  birthright  of  Englishmen  consisted  in  the 
voting  of  every  law  that  was  made,  whereby  that  owner 
ship  in  liberty  and  property  might  be  maintained."  This 
also  was  the  case,  as  he  proved  by  quotations  from  laws 
and  an  appeal  to  history,  in  British,  Saxon,  and  Norman 
times.  "  The  third  birthright  of  Englishmen  consisted  in 
having  an  influence  upon,  and  a  great  share  in,  the  judi- 
catory  power,  so  that  they  were  not  to  be  condemned  but 
by  the  votes  of  freemen.  This  practice,  though  not  per 
haps  British,  obtained  very  early  in  Saxon  times.  It  vrv.s 
among  the  laws  of  Ethelred  that  in  every  hundred  there 
should  be  a  court  where  twelve  ancient  freemen,  together 
with  the  lord  of  the  hundred,  should  be  sworn  that  they 
would  not  condemn  the  innocent  or  acquit  the  guilty. 
The  same  law  continued  to  be  the  law  of  the  land  under 
different  kings  till  it  was  violated  by  John ;  when  Magna 
Charta  restored  it."  Magna  Charta,  however,  he  main 
tained,  "  was  not  the  nativity,  but  the  restorer  of  ancient 
English  privileges.  It  was  no  grant  of  new  rights,  but 
only  a  restorer  of  the  old." 

He  then  explained  the  great  Charter  of  England,  and 
endeavored  to  show  by  an  appeal  to  reason,  law,  lawyers, 
and  facts  themselves,  that  the  people  of  England  could  not 
be  justly  disseized  of  any  of  these  fundamentals.  "  Nothing 
could  be  more  unjust  than  to  sacrifice  the  liberty  and  prop 
erty  of  any  man  for  religion,  where  he  was  not  found 
breaking  any  law  which  related  to  natural  or  civil  things. 


OF     WILLIAM     P  E  X N  . 

Religion  under  any  modification  or  church  government 
was  no  part  of  the  old  English  constitution.  '  Honestc 
vivorc,  altcrum  non  laedere,  jus  suum  cuique  tribuerc,' 
that  is,  to  live  honestly,  to  do  no  injury  to  another,  and  to 
give  every  man  his  due,  was  enough  to  entitle  every  native 
to  English  privileges.  It  was  this,  and  not  his  religion 
which  gave  him  the  great  claim  to  the  protection  of  the 
government  under  which  he  lived.  Near  three  hundred 
years  before  Austin  set  his  foot  on  English  ground  the 
inhabitants  had  a  good  constitution.  This  came  not  in 
with  him.  Neither  did  it  come  in  with  Luther ;  nor  was 
it  to  go  out  with  Calvin.  We  were  a  free  people  by  the 
creation  of  God,  by  the  redemption  of  Christ,  and  by  the 
careful  provision  of  our  never  to  be  forgotten,  honorable 
ancestors ;  so  that  our  claim  to  these  English  privileges, 
rising  higher  than  Protestantism,  could  never  justly  be 
invalidated  on  account  of  non-conformity  to  any  tenet  or 
fashion  it  might  prescribe.  This  would  be  to  lose  by  the 
Reformation,  which  was  effected  only  that  we  might  enjoy 
property  with  conscience." 

With  respect  to  the  second  part  of  the  answer,  that  is, 
a  determination  by  the  Government  of  conducting  itself 
so  as  to  act  upon  a  balance  as  nearly  as  it  could  towards 
the  several  religious  interests,  he  proved  that  our  Saviour 
prohibited  all  force  in  producing  an  uniformity  of  religious 
opinion  He  snys,  "  many  inquisitive  men  into  human 
affairs  have  thought  that  the  concord  of  discords  hath  nr 
been  the  infirmest  basis  government  can  stand  upon.  Lev- 
sedition  and  disturbance  attended  Hannibal's  army  that 
consisted  of  many  nations,  than  the  Roman  legions  that 
were  of  one  people."  "  It  is  not  probable  that  a  master  in 


136  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

a  family  should  have  his  work  so  well  done,  who  smiles 
upon  one  servant  and  frowns  upon  the  rest."  "  It  is  not 
the  interest  of  governors  to  blow  coals  in  their  own 
country,  especially  when  it  is  to  consume  their  own 
people,  and  it  may  be  themselves,  too."  Again  :  "  Such 
conduct  not  only  makes  them  enemies,  but  there  is  no 
such  excitement  to  revenge  as  a  raped  conscience.  Whether 
the  ground  of  a  man's  religious  dissent  be  rational  or  not, 
severity  is  unjustifiable  with  him  ;  for  it  is  a  maxim  with 
sufferers,  that,  whoever  is  in  the  wrong,  the  persecutor 
cannot  be  in  the  right.  Men  not  conscious  to  themselves 
of  evil,  and  hardly  treated,  not  only  resent  it  unkindly, 
but  are  bold  to  show  it." 

The  last  chapter  is  on  the  sincere  promotion  of  general 
and  practical  religion.  He  says:  "General,  true,  and 
requisite  religion  is  to  visit  the  ^low  and  fatherless,  and 
to  keep  ourselves,  through  the  universal  grace,  unspotted 
of  the  world.  This  is  the  most  easy  and  probable  way 
to  fetch  in  all  men  professing  God  and  religion,  since 
every  persuasion  acknowledges  this  in  words."  "  All  pre 
tend  to  make  this  their  corner-stone  ;  let  them  be  equally 
encouraged  to  square  their  building  by  it." 

"  No  one  thing  is  more  unaccountable  and  condemnable 
among  men  than  their'uncharitable  contests  about  religion, 
indeed,  about  words  and  phrases,  while  they  all  verbally 
meet  in  the  most,  if  not  only,  necessary  part  of  the  Chris 
tian  religion  ;  for  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  if  men 
would  but  live  up  to  one-half  of  what  they  know  in  their 
consciences  they  ought  to  practise,  their  edge  \vodld  be 
taken  off,  their  blood  would  be  sweetened  by  mercy  and 
truth,  and  this  unnatural  sharpness  qualified.  They  would 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXN.  137 

quickly  find  work  enough  at  home  ;  each  man's  hands 
would  be  full  by  the  unruliness  of  his  own  passions  and 
in  subjecting  his  own  will,  instead  of  devouring  one  an 
other's  good  name,  liberty,  or  estate.  Compassion  would 
rise,  and  mutual  desires  to  be  assistant  to  each  other  in  a 
better  sort  of  living.  Oh,  how  delightful  it  would  be  to 
see  mankind,  the  creation  of  one  God,  that  hath  upheld 
them  to  this  day,  of  one  accord,  at  least  in  the  weighty 
things  of  God's  holy  law." 

"  A  promotion  of  general  religion,  which  being  in  itself 
practical,  brings  back  ancient  virtue.  Good  living  -\vill 
thrive  in  this  soil ;  men  will  grow  honest,  trusty,  and 
temperate.  We  may  expect  good  neighborhood  and  cor 
dial  friendship.  Men  will  be  more  industrious,  which  will 
increase  our  manufactures ;  set  the  idle  and  poor  to  work 
for  their  livelihood,  and  enable  the  several  countries  with 
more  ease  and  decency  to  maintain  the  aged  and  impotent. 

"It  is  out  of  this  nursery  of  virtue  men  should  be 
drawn  to  be  planted  in  the  government ;  not  what  is  their 
opinion,  but  what  is  their  manners  and  capacity.  Here 
the  field  is  large,  and  the  magistrate  has  room  to  choose 
good  officers  for  the  public  good.  Heaven  will  prosper  so 
natural,  so  noble,  and  so  Christian  an  essay." 

In  the  same  year  he  wrote  a  remarkable  letter  to  two 
Protestant  women  of  rank  in  Germany.  One  of  them  was 
the  Princess  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Frederick  V.,  Prince 
Palatine  of  the  Rhine  and  King  of  Bohemia,  and  grand 
daughter  of  James  I.  of  England.  The  other  was  Anna 
Maria,  Countess  of  Homes,  the  friend  and  companion  of 
Elizabeth.  They  were  both  religious  women,  and  the 
princess  had  manifested  her  liberality  by  affording  an 
1-2* 


188  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     L,  I  F  E 

asylum  in  her  dominions  to  persons  who  were  persecuted 
for  religion.  The  Princess  Elizabeth  was  distinguished 
for  her  learning  as  well  as  for  her  benevolence.  Her 
attachment  to  her  Protestant  belief  had  led  her  when 
quite  young  to  reject  the  offer  of  marriage  to  the  King  of 
Poland.  She  was  now  in  her  fifty-sixth  year.  William 
Penn  speaks  of  her  as  "  choosing  a  single  life  as  the  freest 
from  care,  and  best  suited  to  study  and  meditation. 
Though  she  kept  no  sumptuous  table  in  her  own  court, 
she  spread  the  tables  of  the  poor  in  their  solitary  cells, 
breaking  bread  to  virtuous  pilgrims  according  to  their 
want  and  her  ability.  Abstemious  in  herself,  and  in 
apparel  void  of  all  vain  ornaments."  Robert  Barclay  and 
Benjamin  Furly,  when  travelling  in  Germany  in  the  ser 
vice  of  the  Gospel,  had  paid  them  a  visit  and  were  favora 
bly  received.  This  visit  gave  the  princess  such  a  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  Friends,  and  so  favorable  an  opinion  of 
them,  that  hearing  about  this  time  of  the  imprisonment  of 
"Robert  Barclay,  she  wrote  "to  her  brother,  Prince  Rupert, 
soliciting  him  to  use  his  influence  with  the  king  to  pre 
vent  or  mitigate  the  severity  with  which  he  was  threatened. 

The  letter  of  William  Penn,  which  is  of  great  length, 
begins  as  follows : 

"  Noble  of  this  world,  but  more  noble  for  your  inquiry 
after  the  Truth  and  love  to  it,  the  fame  whereof  hath 
sounded  to  the  ears  of  some  of  us  in  this  island.  I  have 
had  you,  worthy  women,  often  in  my  remembrance,  with 
that  honor  which  is  not  of  this  world ;  even  when  my 
soul  has  been  in  its  purest  retirements,  not  only  from  till 
visibles,  but  from  their  very  ideas  in  the  mind,  and  every 
other  imagination ;  resting  with  the  Lord  in  his  own  sab- 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  139 

bath,  which  is  the  true  silence  of  all  flesh  indeed,  which 
profits  above  the  formal  Christian's  bodily  exercise.  And 
in  these  heavenly  sequestrations  of  soul,  and  true  resigna 
tion  unto  the  divine  will  of  my  Father,  have  I  taken  a 
most  clear  prospect  of  you,  and  every  circumstance  that 
may  be  fit  for  me  to  know :  your  education,  your  quality, 
your  dignity,  the  envy  of  the  clergy,  the  fury  of  the  rab 
ble,  and  the  strength  and  power  of  temptation,  arising 
from  all  these  considerations,  if  possible  to  smother  your 
blessed  beginnings ;  and  as  so  many  bands  of  soldiers, 
employed  and  commissioned  of  their  great  prince  of  dark 
ness,  to  watch  and  to  hinder  Jesus  from  rising  in  you. 
In  a  weighty  sense  of  all  which  my  heart  opens  itself 
unto  you  in  God's  counsel,  after  this  manner. 

"  Be  faithful  to  what  you  know,  and  obedient  to  that 
which  God,  by  the  light  of  his  Son,  makes  manifest  in 
your  consciences.  Consult  not  away  the  pure  and  gentle 
strivings  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  drown  not  his  still  voice 
witli  the  crowd  of  careful  thoughts  and  vain  contrivances  ; 
break  not  the  bruised  reed,  neither  quench  the  smoking 
flax  in  yourselves.  If  you  truly  love  Jesus,  hear  Him ; 
and  since  it  hath  pleased  God  in  some  measure,  as  with 
Paul,  to  reveal  his  blessed  Son  in  you,  consult  not  with 
flesh  and  blood,  which  are  below  the  heavenly  things;  for 
that  inherits  not  the  kingdom  of  God ;  but  with  sincere 
Mary,  from  a  deep  sense  of  the  beauty,  virtue,  and  excel 
lency  of  that  life,  that  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  wait  out 
of  all  cumber,  free  from  that  running,  willing,  sacrificing, 
spirit  that  is  in  the  world,  in  the  pure  obedience,  humilia 
tion,  godly  death  or  silence,  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  choosing 
the  better  part,  which  shall  never  be  taken  from  you :  and 


140  PASSAGES    F  U  O  M     T  II  E     L  I  F  E 

Jesus  will  be  with  you;  He  will  shed  his  peace  abroad  in 
the  midst  of  you,  even  that  which  flows  from  the  crystal 
streams  of  life,  that  arise  from  under  the  throne  of  God." 
It  concludes  in  the  following  manner :  "  Remember  the 
poverty,  simplicity,  self-denial,  patience,  and  the  cross  of 
Jesus.  I  beg  of  you,  by  all  that  is  dear  and  sacred  to  you, 
shrink  not  at  this  baptism,  neither  so  much  as  tamper  with 
any  latitude  that  would  evade  his  bitter  cup.  Let  not  his 
vinegar  and  gall  be  unpleasant,  nor  his  crown  of  thorns 
troublesome ;  last  of  all,  let  not  his  nails  and  spear  be 
terrible  to  you.  For  they  that  will  not  forsake  Him  in  his 
agonies,  but  be  the  companions  of  his  tribulations,  and 
cheerfully  lay  down  their  life  and  die  with  Him  to  the 
world,  they  and  none  else  shall  rise  with  Him  in  the  new 
ness  of  life,  and  ascend  with  Him  to  his  Father,  by  Him 
to  be  glorified  with  that  glory  which  He  had  with  his 
Father  before  the  world  began.  Unto  which  kingdom, 
God  Almighty  conduct  you,  through  this  earthly  pilgrim 
ae.  Amen." 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  141 


VIII. 

IT  has  been  mentioned  that  William  Penn,  about  the 
year  1071,  travelled  in  the  work  of  the  ministry 
through  some  parts  of  the  continent ;  but  of  that  journey 
there  is  no  particular  account.  By  the  labors  of  Friends, 
particularly  William  Penn  and  William  Caton,  a  knowl 
edge  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Society  of  Friends  was  spread 
on  the  continent ;  and  a  number  had  been  convinced,  and 
joined  in  fellowship  with  them. 

In  the  Fourth  month  of  1676,  we  find  William  Penn 
having-  his  family  at  Wo'rminghurst,  in  Sussex,  where  he 
then  lived,  and  attending  the  Yearly  Meeting  at  London. 

Soon  after  this  he  parted  with  his  wife  and  family,  in 
order  to  make  a  second  visit,  in  the  love  of  the  Gospel, 
to  Friends  and  others  in  Holland  and  Germany.  Of  this 
journey  he  has  preserved  an  account,  which  was  first  pub 
lished  in  the  year  1694,  from  which  the  following  is  taken  ; 

This  ensuing  "  JOURNAL  OF  MY  TRAVELS  IN  HOLLAND 
AND  GERMANY,"  in  the  service  of  the  Gospel  of  my  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  was  written  for  my  own  satis 
faction,  and  that  of  some  relations  and  particular  friends, 
as  the  long  time  it  has  lain  silent  shows.  But  a  copy  that 
was  found  amongst  the  late  Countess  of  Conway's  papers, 
falling  into  the  hands  of  a  person  who  much  frequented 


142  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    I,  T  F  E 

that  family,  he  was  earnest  with  me,  both  by  himself  and 
others,  to  have  leave  to  publish  it  for  a  common  good. 

Header,  this  journal  is  of  a  religious  voyage,  and  has 
some  passages  in  it  that  may  engage  thy  soul  to  serious 
ness,  and  let  thee  see  how  good  God  is  to  those  that  go 
of  his  holy  errands. 

On  the  22d  of  the  Fifth  month,  1677,  I  left  my  dear  wife 
and  family  at  Worminghurst,  in  Sussex,  in  the  fear  and 
love  of  God.  We  set  sail  from  Harwich  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  26th,  being  the  fifth  day  of 
the  week ;  and  got  the  sixth  day  at  night  within  half  a 
league  of  the  Briel.  Those  that  came  over  were  George 
Fox,  Robert  Barclay,  G.  Keith,  G.  Watts,  John  Furly, 
William  Tailcoat,  Isabel  Yeomans,  Elizabeth  Keith,  and 
myself,  with  two  of  our  servants. 

Finding  letters  at  Amsterdam  from  the  Friends  of 
Dantzic,  complaining  of  the  heavy  sufferings  they  under 
went,  informing  us  also  that  the  King  of  Poland  was 
there,  and  asking  advice  about  an  address  to  him,  it  foil 
upon  me  to  write  the  following  letter  in  the  name  of  the 
Friends  of  Dantzic :  • 

"To  the  King  of  Poland. 
"  GREAT  PRINCE  ! 

"Actions  of  justice,  mercy,  and  Truth  are  worthy  of  all 
men  ;  but  in  a  most  excellent  manner  of  the  serious  con 
sideration  of  kings  and  princes.  We,  certain  inhabitants 
of  the  city  of  Dantzic,  have  been  long  great  sufferers,  not 
for  any  wickedness  committed  against  the  royal  law  of 
God,  or  any  breach  of  those  civil  laws  of  this  city  that 
relate  to  the  well-government  of  it  in  all  natural  and  civil 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  143 

things,  but  purely  and  only  for  the  cause  of  our  tender 
consciences  towards  God. 

"  We  believe  that  all  true  ministry  and  worship  stand 
only  in  the  experimental  sense,  operations,  and  leadings  of 
the  holy  light,  spirit,  or  grace  that  is  shed  abroad  in  the 
hearts  of  men  and  Avornen,  to  conduct  them  in  the  holy 
way  of  regeneration  unto  life  eternal.  This  was  the  ancient 
apostolical  doctrine ;  they  spoke  what  they  had  seen,  tasted, 
and  handled  of  the  Word  of  God.  And  this  is  our  faith, 
doctrine,  and  practice  in  this  day. 

"And  be  not  displeased  with  us,  oh,  King,  we  entreat 
thee,  if  we  give  this  for  the  reason  of  our  absenting  ourselves 
from  the  public  and  common  ministry  or  worship;  namely, 
that  we  have  no  taste  or  relish,  no  sense  or  evidence,  that 
their  ministry  and  worship  are  authorized  and  performed 
by  the  apostolical  power  and  spirit  of  Jesus ;  but  rather 
that  they  are  the  inventions,  studies,  and  powers  of  man's 
nature  ;  all  which  are  but  strange  fire,  and  therefore  cannot 
kindle  a  true  and  acceptable  sacrifice  to  God. 

"  For  it  is  not  man's  spirit  and  degenerate  nature,  speak 
ing  and  professing  the  words  of  God's  Spirit,  that  giveth 
acceptance  with  the  Lord,  or  administereth  heavenly  edifi 
cation  to  men. 

"And  as  this  is  the  reason  in  the  sight  and  presence 
of  that  God  that  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  will  judge 
the  quick  and  dead,  wherefore  we  cannot  join  in  the  cpm- 
mon  and  public  worship  of  these  parts;  so  doth  the  same 
light  and  Spirit  of  God  lay  an  holy  necessity  upon  us, 
with  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit  to  come  together,  after  the 
manner  of  the  ancient  Christians,  that  were  the  true  fol 
io  vers  of  Jesus ;  and  with  godly  fear  and  a  retired  mind 


144  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

to  wait  upon  God,  and  meditate  in  his  holy  law  of  life 
that  He  hath  written  in  our  hearts,  according  to  his  new 
covenant  promise ;  that  He  may  feed  us,  teach  us,  strengthen 
us,  and  comfort  us  in  our  inward  man.  And,  as  by  this 
Holy  Spirit,  according  to  the  practice  of  the  churches  of  old, 
any  are  inclined  or  moved  to  reprove,  exhort,  admonish, 
praise,  or  pray,  we  are  found  exercised  in  these  holy 
practices. 

"Now,  oh,  Prince!  give  us  poor  Christians  leave  to 
expostulate  with  thee.  Did  Christ  Jesus  or  his  holy  fol 
lowers  endeavor,  by  precept  or  example,  to  set  up  their 
religion  with  a  carnal  sword  ?  Called  He  any  troops  of 
men  or  angels  to  defend  Him  ?  Did  He  countenance  his 
over-zealous  disciples  when  they  would  have  had  fire  from 
heaven  to  destroy  those  that  were  not  of  their  mind  ?  No; 
but  did  not  Christ  rebuke  them,  saying,  '  Ye  know  not 
what  spirit  ye  are  of?' 

"Oh,  King!  'when  did  the  true  religion  persecute? 
When  did  the  true  church  ofi'er  violence  for  religion  ? 
Were  not  her  weapons  prayers,  tears,  and  patience?  Did 
not  Jtsus  conquer  by  those  weapons,  and  vanquish  cruelty 
by  suffering  ?  Can  clubs  and  staves,  swords  arid  prisons 
and  banishments  reach  the  soul,  convert  the  heart,  or  con 
vince  the  understanding  of  man  ?  When  did  violence  ever 
make  a  true  convert,  or  bodily  punishments  a  sincere 
Christian? 

"And  here  give  us  leave  to  remind  thee  of  a  noble  say 
ing  of  one  of  thy  ancestors,  Stephen,  King  of  Poland  :  '  I 
am  king  of  men,  not  of  consciences ;  king  of  bodies,  not 
of  souls/  And  there  have  been  found,  and  still  are,  among 
the  emperors,  kings,  princes,  and  states  of  the  world,  some 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  145 

who  have  had  that  noble  spirit  of  indulging  their  consci 
entious  dissenting  subjects.  Be  not  thou  less  noble  than 
they." 

The  ninth  of  the  Sixth  month  we  set  forward  for  Her- 
werden,  or  Herford,  and  came  thither  at  night.  This  is 
the  city  where  the  Princess  Elizabeth  Palatine  of  the 
Rhine  hath  her  court ;  whom,  and  the  countess  in  company 
with  her,  it  was  especially  upon  us  to  visit ;  and  that  upon 
several  accounts.  First,  in  that  they  are  persons  seeking 
after  the  best  things.  Secondly,  in  that  they  are  actually 
lovers  and  favorers  of  those  who  separate  themselves  from 
the  world  for  righteousness'  sake. 

The  Princess  is  not  only  a  private  supporter  of  such,  but 
gave  protection  to  de  Labadie  himself  and  his  company; 
yea,  when  they  went  under  the  reproachful  name  of  Quak 
ers  about  seven  years  since.  This  man  was  a  Frenchman, 
who,  being  dissatisfied  with  the  looseness  and  deadness  of 
the  French  Protestants,  even  at  Geneva  itself,  left  them 
and  came  for  Holland ;  and  so  vehemently  declaimed 
against  the  apostasy  of  the  priests  and  people  there,  that 
the  clergy  were  enraged,  and  stirred  up  the  magistrates 
against  •him,  and  the  rather,  because  many  followed  him, 
and  several  women  of  great  quality.  Upon  this,  the 
Princess  gave  them  an  invitation,  and  they  came  and  were 
protected  by  her.  But  since,  some  miscarriages  falling 
out  in  that  place,  she  thereupon,  in  good  measure,  with 
drew  her  favor  from  them,  and  they  removed  to  another 
place. 

I  was  moved  to  visit  this  man  and  his  company  six 
years  ago,  and  saw  him  and  his  two  great  disciples ;  but 
18  K 


146  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

they  would  not  suffer  me  to  see  the  people  which  I  labored 
for.  In  that  day  I  saw  the  airiness  and  unstableness  of 
the  man's  spirit,  and  that  a  sect-master  was  his  name, 
And  it  was  upon  me,  both  by  word  of  mouth  arid  writing-, 
to  let  them  know  that  the  enemy  would  prevail  against 
them  to  draw  them  into  inconvenient  things,  if  they  came 
not  to  be  stayed  in  the  light  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  know 
the  holy  silence ;  and  at  last  they  would  conic  to  fall  out 
one  with  another  and  moulder  away ;  which  is  in  some 
measure  come  to  pass  as  I  feared.  For  I  clearly  perceived 
that,  though  they  had  received  some  divine  touches,  there 
was  a  danger  they  would  run  out  writh  them,  and  spend 
them  like  prodigals,  not  knowing  then  where  to  stay  their 
minds  for  daily  bread.  Yea,  though  they  wrere  something 
angelical  and  like  to  the  celestial  bodies,  yet,  if  they  kept 
not  their  station,  they  would  prove  fallen  stars. 

The  Countess  was  commendable  in  this,  that  she  left 
all  to  join  with  a  people  who  had  a  pretence  at  least  to 
more  spirituality  and  self-denial  than  was  found  in  the 
national  religion  she  was  bred  up  in  ;  for  God  had  reached 
her,  as  she  told  me,  about  nine  years  ago,  and  that  by  an 
extraordinary  way.  It  seemed  to  us  a  great  pity  that 
they  should  not  be  acquainted  with  the  lifo  and  testimony 
of  the  true  Quakers. 

About  a  year  since,  Robert  Barclay  and  Benjamin  Fur] y 
took  that  city  in  the  way  from  Fredericstadt  to  Amster 
dam,  and  gave  them  a  visit,  in  which  they  informed  them 
somewhat  of  Friends'  principles,  and  recommended  the 
testimony  of  Truth  to  them,  as  both  a  nearer  and  more 
certain  thing  than  the  utmost  of  de  Labadie's  doctrine. 
They  left  them  tender  and  loving. 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  147 

But  to  return.  Being  arrived  at  that  city,  part  of  which 
is  under  her  government,  we  gave  her  to  understand  it, 
desiring  to  know  what  time  next  day  would  be  most 
proper  for  us  to  visit  her.  She  sent  us  word  she  was  glad 
that  we  were  come,  and  should  be  ready  to  receive  us  next 
morning-  about  the  seventh  hour. 

The  next  morning  being  come,  which  was  the  sixth  day 
of  the  week,  we  went,  about  the  time  she  had  appointed 
us,  and  found  both  her  and  the  Countess  ready  to  receive 
us,  which  they  did  with  a  more  than  ordinary  expression 
of  kindness.  I  can  truly  say  it,  and  that  in  God's  fear,  I 
was  very  deeply  and  reverently  affected  with  the  sense 
that  was  upon  my  spirit  of  the  great  and  notable  day  of 
the  Lord,  and  the  hreakings-in  of  his  eternal  power  upon 
all  nations,  and  of  the  raising  of  the  slain  Witness  to 
judge  the  world,  who  is  the  treasury  of  life  and  peace,  of 
wisdom  and  glory  to  all  that  receive  Him  in  the  hour  of 
his  judgments  and  abide  with  Him.  The  sense  of  this 
deep  and  sure  foundation  which  God  is  laying  as  the  hope 
of  eternal  life  and  glory  for  all  to  build  upon  filled  my 
soul  with  an  holy  testimony  to  them,  which  in  a  living 
sense  was  followed  by  my  brethren,  and  so  the  meeting 
ended  about  the  eleventh  hour. 

The  Princess  entreated  us  to  stay  and  dine  with  her, 
but  with  due  regard  both  to  our  testimony  and  to  her  at 
that  time  we  refused  it,  desiring,  if  she  pleased,  another 
opportunity  that  day,  to  which  she  with  all  cheerfulness 
yielded,  she  herself  appointing  the  second  hour. 

So  we  went  to  our  quarters ;  and  some  time  after  we 
had  dined  we  returned.  The  meeting*  soon  began.  There 
were  several  present  besides  the  Princess  arid  Countess. 


148  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

It  was  at  this  meeting  that  the  Lord  in  a  more  eminent 
manner  began  to  appear.  The  eternal  Word  showed  it 
self  a  hammer  at  this  day,  yea,  sharper  than  a  two-edged 
sword,  dividing  asunder  between  the  soul  and  the  spirit, 
the  joints  and  the  marrow.  Yea,  this  day  was  all  flesh 
humbled  before  the  Lord.  It  amazed  one,  shook  another, 
broke  another.  The  noble  arm  of  the  Lord  was  truly 
awakened,  and  the  weight  and  work  thereof  bowed  and 
tendered  us  also,  after  an  unusual  and  extraordinary  man 
ner,  that  the  Lord  might  work  an  heavenly  sign  before 
them  and  among  them ;  that  the  majesty  of  Him  that  is 
risen  among  the  poor  Quakers  might  in  some  measure  be 
known  unto  them ;  what  God  it  is  we  serve,  and  what 
power  it  is  we  wait  for  and  bow  before.  They  had  a  sense 
and  a  discovery  that  day  what  would  become  of  the  glory 
of  all  flesh  when  God  shall  enter  into  judgment.  Well, 
let  my  right  hand  forget  its  cunning  and  my  tongue  cleave 
to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  when  I  shall  forget  the  loving- 
kindness  of  the  Lord  and  the  sure  mercies  of  our  God  to 
us  his  travailing  servants  that  day.  0  Lord,  send  forth 
thy  light  and  thy  truth  that  all  nations  may  behold  thy 
glory ! 

Thus  continued  the  meeting  till  about  the  seventh  hour; 
which  done,  with  hearts  and  souls  filled  with  holy  thanks 
givings  to  the  Lord  for  his  abundant  mercy  and  goodness 
to  us,  we  departed  to  our  lodging,  desiring  to  know 
whether  our  coming  the  next  day  might  not  be  uneasy 
or  unseasonable  to  her  with  respect  to  the  affairs  of  her 
government,  it  being  the  last  day  of  the  week,  when  we 
were  informed  she  was  most  frequently  attended  with  ad 
dresses  from  her  people.  But  with  a  loving  and  ready 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  149 

mind  she  replied  that  she  should  be  glad  to  see  us  the  next 
morning1,  and  at  any  time  when  we  would. 

The  next  morning,  being  the  llth  of  the  Sixth  month, 
we  were  there  betwixt  eight  and  nine ;  where,  Robert 
BR relay  falling  into  some  discourse  with  the  Princess,  the 
Countess  took  hold  of  the  opportunity,  and  whispered  me 
to  withdraw,  to  get  a  meeting  for  the  more  inferior  ser 
vants  of  the  house,  who  would  have  been  bashful  to  pro- 
sent  themselves  before  the  Princess.  And,  blessed  be  the 
Lord,  lie  was  not  wanting  to  us.  The  same  blessed 
power  that  had  appeared  to  visit  them  of  high,  appeared 
also  to  visit  them  of  low  degree,  and  we  were  all  sweetly 
tendered  and  broken  together ;  for  virtue  went  forth  of 
Jesus  that  day,  and  the  life  of  our  God  w^as  shed  abroad 
amongst  us  as  a  sweet  savor,  for  which  their  souls  bowed 
before  the  Lord  and  confessed  to  our  testimony. 

About  three  in  the  afternoon  we  went  to  the  Princess's; 
where  being  come,  after  some  little  time,  the  Princess  and 
Countess  put  me  in  remembrance  of  a  promise  I  made 
them  in  one  of  my  letters  out  of  England  that  I  would 
give  them  an  account,  at  some  convenient  time,  of  my 
first  convincement,  and  of  those  tribulations  and  consola 
tions  which  I  had  met  withal  in  this  way  of  the  kingdom 
to  which  God  hath  brought  me.  After  some  pause  I  found 
myself  vcny  free  and  prepared,  in  the  Lord's  love  and  fear, 
to  comply  with  their  request.  Among  the  rest  present  at 
these  opportunities  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  there  was 
a  countess,  sister  to  the  Countess,  then  come  to  visit  her, 
and  a  Frenchwoman  of  quality,  the  first  behaving  herself 
very  decently,  and  the  last  was  often  deeply  broken,  and 
from  a  light,  slighting  carriage  towards  the  very  name  of  a 
13* 


150  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

Quaker,  she  became  very  intimately  and  affectionately  kind 
and  respectful  to  us.  They  heard  me  with  an  earnest  and 
tender  attention,  and  I  hope  and  believe  the  Lord  hath 
made  it  profitable  unto  them. 

The  next  morning1  we  had  a  meeting-  among  ourselves 
in  our  chamber,  wherein  the  Lord  refreshed  us,  and  there 
was  a  great  travail  upon  our  spirits,  that  the  Lord  would 
stand  by  us  that  day  and  magnify  the  testimony  of  his 
own  truth  by  us ;  that  He  might  have  a  seed  and  people 
in  that  place  to  lift  up  a  standard  for  his  name. 

The  second  hour  being1  at  hand,  we  went  to  the  meeting:, 
where  were  several,  as  well  of  the  town  as  of  the  family. 
Oh,  the  day  of  the  Lord  livingly  dawned  upon  us,  and 
the  searching-  life  of  Jesus  was  in  the  midst  of  us!  The 
Word  that  never  faileth  them  that  wait  for  it,  and  abide 
in  it,  opened  the  way  and  unsealed  the  book  of  life  ;  yea, 
the  quickening  power  and  life  of  Jesus  wrought  and 
reached  to  them,  and  virtue  from  him  in  whom  dwellcth 
the  Godhead  bodily,  went  forth,  and  blessedly  distilled 
upon  us  his  own  heavenly  life,  sweeter  than  the  spices 
with  pure  frankincense,  yea,  than  the  sweet-smelling 
myrrh  that  cometh  from  a  far  country.  And  as  it  began, 
so  it  was  carried  on,  and  so  it  ended  ;  blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  confided  in  be  our  God  forever ! 

We  took  our  solemn  leave  of  them,  recommending  to 
them  holy  silence  from  all  will-worship,  and  the  workings, 
strivings,  and  images  of  their  own  mind  and  spirit ;  that 
Jesus  might  be  felt  by  them  in  their  hearts,  his  holy 
teachings  witnessed  and  followed  in  the  way  of  his  blessed 
cross,  wThich  would  crucify  them  unto  the  world,  and  the 
world  unto  them;  that  their  faith,  hope,  and  joy  might 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  151 

stand  in  Christ  in  them,  the  heavenly  Prophet,  Shepherd 
and  Bishop ;  whose  voice  all  that  are  truly  sheep  will 
hear  and  follow,  and  not  the  voice  of  any  stranger  what 
ever.  So  we  left  them  in  the  love  and  peace  of  God, 
praying  that  they  might  be  kept  from  the  evil  of  this 
world. 

At  Frankfort  we  arrived  on  the  20th,  and  having 
made  known  our  intentions  of  coming,  two  considerable 
persons  came  and  met  us  about  half  a  German  mile  from 
the  city,  informing  us  of  several  who  were  well  affected  in 
that  town.  Upon  which  we  told  them  the  end  of  our 
coming,  and  desired  to  have  a  meeting  with  them  in  the 
afternoon,  which  we  easily  obtained  at  the  house  of  a 
merchant,  one  of  the  two  that  met  us.  The  persons  who 
resorted  thither  were  generally  people  of  considerable  note, 
both  of  Calvinists  and  Lutherans,  and  we  can  say  they 
received  us  with  gladness  of  heart,  and  embraced  our 
testimony  with  a  broken  and  reverent  spirit,  thanking 
God  for  our  coming  amongst  them,  and  praying  that  He 
would  prosper  his  work  in  our  hands.  This  engaged  our 
hearts  to  make  some  longer  stay  in  this  city.  We,  there 
fore,  desired  another  meeting  the  next  day,  which  they 
cheerfully  assented  to  ;  where  several  came  who  were  not 
with  us  the  day  before,  and  the  Lord  who  sent  us  into  the 
land  was  with  us,  and  by  his  power  reached  to  them,  inso 
much  that  they  confessed  to  the  truth  of  our  testimony. 

Of  these  persons  there  were  two  women,  one  unmar 
ried  (Joanna  Eleonpra  do  Malane),  the  other  a  widow, 
both  noble  of  birth,  who  had  a  deep  sense  of  the  power 
and  presence  of  God  which  accompanied  our  testimony. 
Among  some  of  those  who  have  inclinations  after  God,  a 


152  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

fearful  spirit  together  with  the  shame  of  the  cross  hath 
entered,  against  which  our  testimony  in  part  striking,  we 
took  notice  it  was  as  life  to  these  noble  women,  for  that 
was  it,  as  they  told  us,  which  had  long  oppressed  them, 
and  obstructed  the  work  of  the  Lord  amongst  them. 
Therefore,  said  the  young  woman,  "  Our  quarters  are  free 
for  you ;  let  all  come  that  will  come,  and  lift  up  your 
voices  without  fear,  for,"  continued  she,  "  it  will  never  be 
well  with  us  till  persecution  come,  and  some  of  us  be  lodged 
in  the  stadthouse,7'  that  is  the  prison. 

We  left  the  peace  of  Jesus  with  them,  and  the  same 
afternoon  we  departed  out  of  that  city,  being  the  Fourth 
day  of  the  week. 

Here  I  wrote  an  epistle  [from  which  we  make  extracts]. 

"  To  the  churches  of  Jesus  throughout  the  world,  gathered 
and  settled  in  his  eternal  light,  power,  and  spirit,  to  be 
one  holy  flock,  family,  and  household  to  the  Lord. 

"  DEAR  FRIENDS  AND  BRETHREN  : — The  Lord  of  heaven 
and  earth  hath  heard  our  cries,  and  the  full  time  is  come, 
yea,  the  appointed  time  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the 
eternal  Spirit  in  our  hearts  hath  been  heard  on  this 
wise  many  a  time ;  awake  thou  that  sleepest,  and  I  will 
give  thee  life ;  arise  out  of  the  dust  and  shine,  for  thy 
light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon 
thee !  And  the  Lord  God  hath  given  us  that  light  by 
which  we  have  comprehended  the  darkness  in  ourselves 
and  in  the  world ;  and  as  we  have  believed  in  it,  dwelt  in  it, 
and  walked  in  it,  we  have  received  power  to  overcome  the 
evil  one  in  all  his  appearances  in  ourselves,  and  faithfully 
and  boldly  to  testify  against  him  in  the  vrorld.  And  the 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  153 

blood  of  Jesus,  in  this  holy  way  of  the  light,  have  we  felt 
in  our  souls,  to  cleanse  us  from  unrighteousness,  and  give 
us  to  know  the  mystery  of  the  fellowship  of  the  Gospel  one 
with  another,  which  stands  in  life  and  immortality.  And 
here  we  become  an  holy  household  and  family  unto  God, 
that  live  in  his  presence  day  and  night,  to  do  his  will,  as 
bccometh  his  children,  redeemed  and  ransomed  by  the 
most  precious  blood  of  his  Son,  and  no  more  to  return 
to  folly. 

''And,  Friends,  let  it  never  pass  out  of  our  remem 
brance,  what  our  God  hath  done  for  us,  since  He  hath 
made  us  a  people.  Hath  He  called  us,  and  not  protected 
us  ?  Hath  He  not  sheltered  us  in  many  a  storm  ?  Did  He 
ever  leave  us  under  the  reproaches  and  contradictions  of 
men  ?  Nay,  hath  He  not  spoken  peace  to  us  ?  Were  we 
ever  cast  out  by  men,  and  He  forsook  us  ?  No  ;  the  Lord 
hath  taken  us  up.  When  were  the  gaols  so  close  that  He 
could  not  come  in  ?  And  the  dungeons  so  dark  that  He 
caused  not  his  light  to  shine  upon  us  ?  He  hath  brought 
us  into  the  wilderness  not  to  starve  us,  but  to  try  us ;  yet 
not  above  our  measure  ;  for  He  fed  us  with  manna  from 
on  high,  with  pure  honey  and  water  out  of  the  rock,  and 
gives  his  good  Spirit  to  sustain  us. 

"  And  no\v,  Friends,  as  I  have  been  travelling  in  this 
dark  and  solitary  land,  the  great  work  of  the  Lord  in  the 
earth  has  been  often  presented  to  my  view,  and  the  day 
of  the  Lord  hath  been  deeply  upon  me,  and  my  soul  hath 
frequently  been  possessed  with  a  holy  and  weighty  con 
cern  for  the  glory  of  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  the  spread 
ing  of  his  everlasting  Truth,  and  the  prosperity  of  it 
through  all  nations ;  that  the  very  ends  of  the  earth  may 


154  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

look  to  Him,  and  may  know  Christ,  the  light,  to  be  given 
to  them  for  their  salvation. 

"And  in  the  earnest  and  fervent  motion  of  the  pow(-i 
and  Spirit  of  Jesus,  I  beseech  yon  all,  who  are  turned  to 
the  light  of  Christ  which  shincth  in  your  hearts,  and 
believe  in  it,  that  yon  carefully  and  faithfully  walk  in  it  in 
the  same  dread,  awe,  and  fear  in  which  you  began ;  that 
that  holy  poverty  of  spirit  which  is  precious  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Lord,  and  was  in  the  days  of  your  first  love,  may 
dwell  and  rest  with  you  ;  that  you  may  daily  feel  the  same 
heavenly  hunger  and  thirst,  the  same  lowliness  and 
humility  of  mind,  the  same  zeal  and  tenderness,  arid  the 
same  sincerity  and  love  unfeigned;  that  God  may  fill  yon 
out  of  his  heavenly  treasure  with  the  riches  of  life,  and 
crown  you  with  holy  victory  and  dominion  over  the  god 
and  spirit  of  this  world;  that  your  alpha  may  be  your 
omega,  and  your  author  your  finisher,  and  your  first  love 
your  last  love  ;  that  so  none  may  make  shipwreck  of  faith 
and  of  a  good  conscience,  nor  faint  by  the  way.  As  in 
this  state  we  are  kept  in  holy  watchfulness  to  God  as  in 
the  beginning,  the  table  which  our  Heavenly  Father  spreads, 
and  the  blessings  with  which  He  compasseth  us  about,  shall 
not  become  a  snare  unto  us,  nor  shall  we  turn  the  grace 
and  mercies  of  the  Lord  into  wantonness  ;  but  we  shall  eat 
and  drink  in  a  holy  fear,  apparel  ourselves  in  fear,  buy  and 
sell  in  fear,  visit  one  another  in  fear,  keep  meetings,  and 
there  wait  upon  the  Lord  in  fear ;  yea,  whatsoever  we 
take  in  hand  to  do,  it  shall  be  in  the  holy  fear  of  God,  and 
with  a  holy  tenderness  of  his  glory,  and  regard  to  the 
prosperity  of  his  Truth  ;  yea,  we  shall  deny  ourselves,  nut 
only  in  the  unlawful  things,  but  in  the  things  that  are 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  155 

even  lawful  to  us,  for  the  sake  of  the  many  millions  that 
arc  unconverted  to  God. 

"  For,  my  Friends  and  brethren,  God  hath  laid  upon  us 
whom  He  hath  honored  with  the  beginning  of  his  great 
work  in  the  world,  the  care  both  of  this  age  and  of  the 
ages  to  come.  Therefore,  let  none  be  treacherous  to  the 
Lord,  nor  reward  Him  evil  for  good ;  nor  betray  his  cause 
directly  by  wilful  wickedness,  nor  indirectly  by  negligence 
and  unfaithfulness,  but  be  zealous  and  valiant  for  Truth 
on  earth.  0  !  let  none  lose  their  testimony,  but  hold  it  up 
for  God  ;  let. thy  gift  be  ever  so  small,  thy  testimony  ever 
so  little.  Through  thy  whole  conversation  bear  it  for  God  ; 
and  be.  true  to  what  thou  art  convinced  of.  A.nd  wait  all 
upon  the  Lord  that  you  may  grow  in  your  heavenly  testi 
mony,  that  life  may  fill  your  hearts,  your  houses,  and  your 
meetings ;  that  you  may  daily  wait  to  know,  and  to  receive 
power  to  do  the  will  of  God  on  earth  as  it  is  heaven. 

"  And  I  must  tell  you  that  there  is  a  breathing,  hunger 
ing,  seeking  people,  solitarily  scattered  up  and  down  this 
great  land  of  Germany,  where  the  Lord  hath  sent  me  ;  and 
I  believe  it  is  the  like  in  other  nations.  And  our  desire  is 
that  God  would  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  many  of  his  faith 
ful  witnesses  to  visit  the  inhabitants  of  this  country,  where 
God  hath  a  great  seed  of  people  to  be  gathered ;  that  his 
work  may  go  on  in  the  earth  till  the  whole  earth  be  filled 
with  his  glory. 

"And  it  is  under  the  deep  and  weighty  sense  of  this 
approaching  work,  that  the  Lord  God  hath  laid  it  upon  me 
to  write  to  you  to  wait  for  the  further  pourings  out  of  th<5 
power  and  Spirit  of  the  Lord  ;  that  nothing  which  is  care 
less,  sleepy,  earthly,  or  exhalted  may  get  up,  whereby  to 


156  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

displease  the  Lord  and  cause  Him  to  withdraw  his  sweet 
and  preserving  presence  from  any  that  know  Him. 

11  And  all  you,  my  dear  Friends  and  brethren,  who  are 
in  sufferings  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  and  a  good  con 
science,  look  up  to  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  your 
faith ;  who,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  endured 
the  cross  and  despised  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father  in  the  heavenly  place ;  into 
which,  if  you  faint  not,  you  shall  all  be  received  after  the 
days  of  your  pilgrimage  shall  be  at  an  end  with  a  'Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant.'  Wherefore,  let  it  not 
seem  as  if  some  strange  thing  had  happened  to  you.  It 
is  the  old  quarrel — children  of  this  world  against  the 
children  of  the  Lord ;  those  that  are  born  after  the  flesh, 
warring  against  those  that  are  born  after  the  Spirit.  So, 
your  conflict  is  for  the  spiritual  appearance  of  Christ  Jesus 
against  those  that  profess  Him  in  words,  but  in  works  and 
conversation  every  day  deny  Him ;  doing  despite  to  the 
spirit  of  grace  in  themselves,  and  those  that  are  led  by  it. 

"  And  to  you  all,  who  are  the  followers  of  the  Lamb 
of  God,  who  was  dead,  but  is  alive,  and  lives  for  evermore, 
— who  is  risen  in  your  hearts  as  a  bright  shining  light,  and 
is  leading  you  out  of  the  nature  and  spirit  of  this  world, 
in  the  path  of  regeneration, — I  have  this  to  say  by  way 
of  holy  encouragement  unto  you  all ;  the  Lord  God  that 
was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come,  hath  reserved  for  you  the 
glories  of  the  last  days.  And  if  the  followers  and  martyrs 
of  Jesus  in  ages  past  when  the  church  was  going  into 
the  wilderness  and  his  witnesses  into  sackcloth,  were,  not 
withstanding,  so  noble  and  valiant  for  the  Truth  on  earth, 
that  they  loved  not  their  lives  unto  the  death,  and  suffered 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  157 

joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods  for  the  testimony  of 
Jesus ; — how  much  more  ought  you  all  to  be  encouraged 
unto  faithfulness,  who  are  come  to  the  resurrection  of  the 
day  which  shall  never  more  be  eclipsed ;  in  which  the 
Bridegroom  is  to  come,  to  fetch  you  his  spouse  out  of  the 
wilderness,  to  give  you  beauty  for  ashes,  and  the  garment 
of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness ;  who  will  cover  you 
with  his  Spirit,  and  adorn  you  with  his  fine  linen,  the 
righteousness  of  the  saints. 

"  I  am,  in  the  faith,  patience,  tribulation,  and  hope  of 
the  kingdom  of  Jesus,  your  friend  and  brother, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

It  came  upon  me  in  this  place  to  salute  the  Princess  and 
Countess  with  this  following  epistle  [of  which  we  give  part]: 

"A  salutation  to  Elizabeth,  Princess  Palatine,  and  Anna 
Maria  de  Homes,  Countess  of  Homes,  at  Herwerden 
in  Germany. 

"MY  WORTHY  FRIENDS: — Such  as  I  have,  such  I  give 
unto  you ;  the  dear  and  tender  salutation  of  light,  life, 
peace,  and  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  the  blessed  Lamb 
of  God;  with  the  unspeakable  joy  of  which  He  has  re 
plenished  my  soul  at  this  time  that  my  cup  overfloweth ; 
which  is  the  reward  of  those  who  cheerfully  drink  his  cup 
of  tribulations,  love  the  cross,  and  triumph  in  all  the 
shame,  reproaches,  and  contradictions  of  the  wrorld  that 
do  attend  it.  My  God  take  you  by  the  hand  and  gently 
lead  you  through  all  the  difficulties  of  regeneration  ;  and 
as  you  have  begun  to  know  and  love  his  sweet  and  tender 
drawings,  so  resign  the  whole  conduct  of  your  lives  to  Him. 
14 


158  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

"  Dispute  not  away  the  precious  sense  that  you  have  of 
Ilim,  be  it  as  small  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  which  is 
the  least  of  all  seeds ;  there  is  power  in  it,  if  you  do  but 
believe,  to  remove  the  greatest  mountains  of  opposition. 

"And, -my  friends,  if  you  would  profit  in  the  way  of 
God,  despise  not  the  day  of  small  things  in  yourselves : 
know  this,  that  to  desire  and  sincerely  to  breathe  after  the 
Lord,  is  a  blessed  state.  You  must  seek,  before  you  find. 
Do  you  believe  ?  make  not  haste ;  extinguish  not  those 
small  beginnings  by  an  over  earnest  or  impatient  desire 
of  victory.  God's  time  is  the  best  time ;  be  you  faithful, 
and  your  conflict  shall  end  with  glory  to  God,  and  the  re 
ward  of  peace  to  your  own  souls.  Therefore  love  the 
judgment  and  love  the  fire  ;  start  not  aside,  neither  flinch 
from  the  scorchings  of  it,  for  it  will  purify  and  refine  you 
as  gold  seven  times  tried  ;  then  cometh  the  stamp  and  seal 
of  the  Lord  upon  his  own  vessel,  holiness  to  Him  forever  ; 
which  He  never  gave,  nor  will  give  to  reprobate  silver,  the 
state  of  the  religious  worshippers  of  the  world.  And 
herein  be  comforted,  that  Zion  shall  be  redeemed  through 
judgment,  and  her  converts  through  righteousness ;  and 
after  the  appointed  time  of  mounting  is  over,  the  Lord 
will  give  'beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning, 
and  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness.' 
Then  shall  you  be  able  to  say,  '  Who  is  he  that  condemn- 
eth  us?  God  hath  justified  us;  there  is  no  condemnation 
to  us  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the 
flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.' 

"  Wherefore,  my  dear  friends,  walk  not  not  only  after 
the  fleshly  lusts,  but  also  not  after  the  fleshly  religions  and 
worships  of  the  world;  for  that  which  is  not  born  of  the 


OFWILHAMPENN.  159 

Spirit  is  flesh ;  and  all  flesh  shall  wither  as  the  grass,  and 
the  beauty  of  it  shall  fade  away  as  the  flower  of  the  field, 
before  God's  Sun  that  is  risen,  and  rising.  But  the 
Word  of  the  Lord  in  which  is  life,  and  that  life  the  light 
of  men,  shall  endure  forever,  and  give  life  eternal  to  them 
that  love  and  walk  in  the  light. 

"  And  I  entreat  you,  by  the  love  you  have  for  Jesus, 
have  a  care  how  you  say  Amen,  by  word  or  practice,  to 
that  which  is  not  born  of  the  Spirit.  '  Without  me,'  saith 
Jesus,  'you  can  do  nothing.'  If  so,  what  are  they  that 
pray,  and  preach,  and  sing  without  Jesus,  and  follow  not 
Him  in  those  duties,  but  even  crucify  Him  in  them  ?  0 
that  I  may  find  in  you  an  car  to  hear,  and  a  heart  to  per 
ceive  and  embrace  these  truths  of  Jesus ! 

"  I  was  abundantly  refreshed  and  comforted,  in  that  God 
in  measure  made  known  the  riches  of  his  grace,  and  oper 
ation  of  his  celestial  power  to  you.  With  Him  w-e  leave 
our  travails,  affectionately  recommending  you  to  his  Holy 
Spirit  of  grace,  that  you  may  be  conformed  to  the  imago 
of  his  own  dear  Son,  Who  is  able  and  ready  to  preserve 
you.  0  stay  your  minds  upon  Him,  and  He  will  keep 
you  in  perfect  peace,  and  abide  with  you  forever! 

"  I  am  your  true  friend,  ready  to  serve  you  with  fervent 
love  in  the  will  of  God,  WILLIAM  PENN." 

That  night  we  lodged  at  Frankenhal,  and  got  the  next 
morning,  being  the  seventh  day  of  the  week,  to  Man- 
lieim ;  but  were  disappointed  of  our  design,  which  was  to 
speak  with  the  Prince;  for  he  was  gone  the  day  before  to 
Heidelberg,  his  chief  city,  about  fifteen  English  miles  from 
that  place.  Considering,  that  by  reason  of  the  meeting 


1GO  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

next  day  with  Friends  at  Krisheim,  already  appointed,  we 
could  neither  go  forward  nor  stay  till  he  returned ;  and 
yet  being  not  clear  to  come  away,  as  if  we  had  never  en 
deavored  to  visit  him,  it  was  upon  me  to  write  him  this 
following  letter,  to  let  him  know  we  had  been  there,  and 
our  end  in  coming.  [The  following  is  extracted]  : 

"  To  the  Prince  Elector  Palatine  of  Heidelberg. 

"  GREAT  PRINCE: — It  would  seem  strange  that  I,  both 
a  stranger  and  a  subject,  should  use  this  freedom  of  ad 
dress  to  a  prince,  were  he  not  one  whose  actions  show 
him  to  be  of  a  free  disposition,  and  easy  access  to  all ; 
would  to  God  all  princes  were  of  that  mind ! 

"I  do,  with  all  sincere  and  Christian  respect,  acknowl 
edge  and  commend  that  indulgence  thou  givest  to  all  peo 
ple  professing  religion,  dissenting  from  the  national  com 
munion  ;  for  it  is  in  itself  a  most  natural,  prudent,  and 
Christian  thing. 

"  It  rendereth  the  prince  peculiarly  safe  and  great.  Safe, 
because  all  interests,  for  interest'  sake,  are  bound  to  love 
and  court  him.  Great,  in  that  he  is  not  governed  or 
clogged  with  the  v  power  of  his  clergy;  which  in  most 
countries  is  not  only  a  co-ordinate  power,  a  kind  of  duum- 
virateship  in  government,  imperium  in  imperio,  at  least 
an  eclipse  to  monarchy,  but  a  superior  power,  and  rideth 
the  prince  to  their  designs,  holding  the  helm  of  the  gov 
ernment,  and  steering  not  by  the  laws  of  civil  freedom, 
but  certain  ecclesiastical  maxims  of  their  own,  to  the 
maintenance  and  enlargement  of  their  worldly  empire  in 
their  church.  And  all  this  acted  under  the  sacred,  peaceable, 
and  alluring  name  of  Christ,  his  ministry,  and  church. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  161 

"  One  thing  give  me  leave  to  recommend  to  thee,  and 
that  is  to  be  very  careful  to  inculcate  generous,  free,  and 
righteous  principles  into  thy  son  who  is  likely  to  succeed 
thee,  that  when  thou  art  gone  the  reputation  of  the  coun 
try  may  not' sink  by  contrary  practices,  nor  the  people  of 
divers  judgments,  now  thy  subjects,  be  disappointed,  dis 
tressed,  or  ruined.  Which,  with  sincere  desires  for  thy 
temporal  and  eternal  good,  conclude  this, 

"  Thy  unknown,  but  sincere  friend, 

WILLIAM  PENN. 

"  From  Manheim,  25th  of  Sixth  month,  1677." 

This  being  done,  and  having  refreshed  ourselves,  we 
returned  that  night  by  the  Rhine  to  Worms,  whence,  the 
next  morning,  being  the  first  day  of  the  week,  we  walked 
on  foot  to  Krisheim,  about  six  English  miles  from  Worms. 
We  had  a  good  meeting  from  the  tenth  to  the  third  hour, 
rind  the  Lord's  power  was  sweetly  opened  to  many  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  town  wrho  were  at  the  meeting. 
The  Yaught,  or  chief  officer,  himself  stood  at  the  door 
behind  the  barn,  where  he  could  hear  and  not  be  seen, 
and  went  to  the  priest  and  told  him  that  it  was  his  work, 
if  we  were  heretics,  to  discover  us  to  be  such,  but  for  his 
part  he  heard  nothing  but  what  was  good,  and  he  would 
not  meddle  with  us. 

In  the  evening  we  had  a  more  retired  meeting  of  the 
Friends  only,  very  weighty  and  tender,  and  great  was  the 
love  of  God  that  was  in  our  hearts  at  the  meeting  to  visit 
them,  and  there  is  a  lovely,  sweet,  and  true  sense  among 
them.  We  were  greatly  comforted  in  them  and  they  were 
greatly  comforted  in  us.  Poor  hearts  !  a  little  handful  sur- 
14*  L 


162  PASSAGES    FKOM    THE    LIFE 

rounded  with  great  and  mighty  countries  of  darkness,  it  is 
the  Lord's  great  goodness  and  mercy  to  them  that  they 
are  so  finely  kept  in  the  seed  of  life. 

We  came  down  the  river  Rhine  to  Mentz  and  took  an 
open  chariot  for  Frankfort.  We  presently  informed  some 
of  those  people  that  had  received  us  the  time  before  of 
our  return  to  that  city,  with  desires  that  we  might  have 
a  meeting  that  afternoon,  which  was  readily  granted  us 
by  the  noble  women  at  whose  house  we  met,  whither  re 
sorted  some  that  we  had  not  seen  before.  And  the  Lord 
did  after  a  living  manner  open  our  hearts  and  mouths 
amongst  them.  Before  we  parted,  we  desired  a  select 
meeting  the  next  morning  at  the  same  place  of  those  that 
we  felt  to  be  more  inwardly  affected  with  Truth's  testi 
mony,  and  that  were  nearest  to  the  state  of  a  silent  meet 
ing,  to  which  they  joyfully  assented. 

We  went  to  our  lodging,  and  on  the  29th  returned  to 
them,  with  whom  we  had  a  blessed  and  heavenly  oppor 
tunity,  for  we  had  room  for  our  life  amongst  them.  It 
was  as  among  faithful  Friends,  life  ran  as  oil  arid  was 
a-top  of  all. 

We  recommended  a  silent  meeting  to  them,  that  they 
might  grow  into  a  holy  silence  unto  themselves ;  that  the 
mouth  that  calls  God  Father  and  is  not  of  his  own  birth 
may  be  stopped,  and  all  images  confounded ;  that  they 
may  hear  the  soft  voice  of  Jesus  to  instruct  them,  and 
receive  his  sweet  life  to  feed  them  and.to  build  them  up. 

We  -set  out  towards  the  city  of  Duysburg,  of  the  Cal- 
vinist  way,  belonging  to  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  in 
and  near  to  which  we  had  been  informed  there  was  a 
retired  and  seeking  people. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  163 

We  arrived  there  on  the  second  of  Seventh  month, 
about  noon,  being-  the  first  day  of  the  week.  The  first 
thing  we  did,  after  we  came  to  our  inn,  was  to  inquire 
out  one  Dr.  Mastricht,  a  civilian,  for  whom  we  had  a  let 
ter,  to  introduce  us,  from  a  merchant  of  Cologne;  whom 
quickly  finding,  we  informed  him  what  we  came  about, 
desiring  his  assistance,  which  he  readily  promised  us. 
The  first  thing  we  offered  was  an  access  to  the  Countess 
of  Falkenstein  and  Druck.  He  told  us  she  was  an  ex 
traordinary  woman,  one  in  whom  we  should  find  things 
worthy  of  our  love;  that  he  would  write  to  her  to  give 
us  an  opportunity  with  her ;  that  the  fittest  time  was  the 
present  time,  in  that  we  might  find  her  at  the  minister's/ 
of  Mulheiin,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  from  her 
father's  castle  ;  for  that  she  used  to  come  out  on  First  day 
morning,  and  not  return  till  night;  that  we  must  be  very 
shy  of  making  ourselves  public,  not  only  for  our  own 
sakcs,  but  for  hers,  who  was  severely  treated  by  her 
father,  for  the  sake  of  those  religious  inclinations  that 
appeared  in  her,  although  her  father  pretended  to  be  of 
the  Protestant  religion. 

We  therefore  despatched  towards  Mulheim,  having  re 
ceived  his  letter,  and  being  also  accompanied  by  him  about 
one-third  of  the  way.  But  being  six  English  miles,  and 
on  foot,  we  could  not  compass  the  place  before  the  meet 
ing  was  over;  for  it  was  past  three  before  we  could  get 
out  of  Duysburg;  and,  following  that  way  which  led  to 
the  back  of  the  Graef's  castle  and  orchard,  which  was 
also  a  common  way  to  the  town  (though  if  we  had  known 
the  country  we  might  have  avoided  it),  we  met  with  one 
Henry  Smith,  school-master  and  catechiscr  of  Speldorp, 


164  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

to  whom  we  imparted  our  business,  and  gave  the  letter  of 
Dr.  Mastricht  of  Duysburg  to  introduce  us  to  the  Countess. 
He  told  us  he  had  just  left  her,  being  come  over  the 
water  from  worship,  but  he  would  carry  the  letter  to  her, 
and  bring  an  answer  suddenly  ;  but  notwithstanding  staid 
near  an  hour.  When  he  came,  he  gave  us  this  answer, 
namely,  that  she  would  be  glad  to  meet  us,  but  she  did 
not  know  where ;  but  rather  inclined  that  we  should  go 
over  the  water  to  the  minister's  house,  whither,  if  she 
could,  she  would  come  to  us;  but  that  a  strict  hand  was 
held  over  her  by  her  father.  After  some  serious  discourse 
with  him,  we  parted ;  he  returning  homewards,  and  we 
advancing  to  the  town.  Being  necessitated  to  pass  by 
her  father's  castle,  who  is  seignior  or  lord  of  that  country, 
it  so  fell  out  that  at  that  very  instant  he  came  forth  to 
walk ;  and  seeing  us  in  the  habit  of  strangers,  sent  one 
of  his  attendants  to  demand  who  and  from  whence  we 
were  ?  and  whither  we  went  ?  calling  us  afterwards  to 
him,  and  asking  us  the  same  questions.  We  answered 
that  we  were  Englishmen,  come  from  Holland,  going  no 
further  in  these  parts  than  his  own  town  of  Mulheim. 
But  not  showing  him,  or  paying  him,  that  worldly  hom 
age  and  respect  which  was  expected  from  us,  some  of  his 
gentlemen  asked  us  if  we  knew  whom  we  were  before  ? 
and  if  we  did  not  use  to  deport  ourselves  after  another 
manner  before  noblemen,  and  in  the  presence  of  princes  ? 
We  answered  we  were  not  conscious  to  ourselves  of  any 
disrespect  or  unseemly  behavior.  One  of  them  sharply 
replied,  "  Why  do  you  not  pull  off  your  hats,  then  ?  Is 
it  respect  to  stand  covered  in  the  presence  of  the  sovereign 
of  the  country?  "  We  told  them  it  was  our  practice,  in 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  165 

the  presence  of  our  prince,  who  is  a  great  king-,  and  that 
we  uncovered  not  our  heads  to  any,  but  in  our  duty  to 
Almighty  God.  Upon  which  the  Graef  called  us  Quakers, 
saying  to  us,  "  We  have  no  need  of  Quakers  here ;  get 
you  out  of  my  dominions,  you  shall  not  go  to  my  town." 

We  told  him  we  were  an  innocent  people,  that  feared 
God,  and  had  good  will  towards  all  men  ;  that  we  had 
true  respect  in  our  hearts  towards  him,  and  would  be  glad 
to  do  him  any  real  good  or  service;  and  that  the  Lord 
had  made  it  matter  of  conscience  to  us  not  to  conform 
ourselves  to  the  vain  and  fruitless  customs  of  this  world, 
or  words  to  this  purpose.  However,  he  commanded  some 
of  his  soldiers  to  see  us  out  of  his  territories,  to  whom  we 
also  declared  somewhat  of  the  reason  and  intention  of  our 
coming  to  that  place,  in  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  and  they 
were  civil  to  us. 

We  parted  with  much  peace  and  comfort  in  our  hearts, 
and  as  we  passed  through  the  village  where  the  school 
master  dwelt  (yet  in  the  dominions  of  the  Graef),  we 
called  upon  him,  and  in  the  sense  of  God's  power  and 
kingdom  opened  to  him  the  message  and  testimony  of 
Truth,  which  the  man  received  with  a  weighty  and  seri 
ous  spirit.  Under  the  dominion  of  the  Graef,  there  is 
a  large  congregation  of  Protestants  called  Calvinists,  of 
a  more  religious,  inward,  and  zealous  frame  of  spirit  than 
any  body  of  people  we  met  with  or  heard  of  in  Germany. 

After  we  had  ended  our  testimony  to  him,  we  took  our 
leave ;  desiring  him  not  to  fear,  but  to  be  of  good  cour 
age,  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  was  hastening  upon  all  the 
workers  of  iniquity ;  and  to  them  that  feared  his  name, 
wherever  scattered  throughout  the  earth,  He  would  cau^e 


166  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  Sun  of  righteousness  to  arise  and  visit  them,  with 
healing  under  his  wings.  We  desired  he  would  remem 
ber  us  with  true  love  and  kindness  to  the  Countess, 
daughter  to  the  Gracf,  and  to  desire  her  not  to  be  of 
fended  in  us,  nor  to  be  dismayed  at  the  displeasure  of  her 
father,  but  eye  the  Lord  who  hath  visited  her  soul  with 
his  holy  light,  by  which  she  seeth  the  vanity  of  this 
world,  and  in  some  measure  the  emptiness  and  dcadness 
of  the  religions  that  are  in  it ;  and  He  would  preserve  her 
from  the  fear  of  the  wrath  of  men,  that  worketh  not  the 
righteousness  of  God.  So  we  left  the  peace  of  Jesus  with 
him,  and  walked  on  towards  Duysburg,  being  about  six 
English  miles  from  thence,  and  near  the  eighth  hour  at 
night.  The  Lord  was  with  us,  and  comforted  our  hearts 
with  the  joy  of  his  salvation,  as  we  walked,  without  any 
outward  guide,  through  a  tedious  and  solitary  wood,  about 
three  miles  long.  He  gave  us  to  remember  and  to  speak 
one  unto  another  of  his  blessed  witnesses  in  the  days  past, 
who  wandered  up  and  down  like  poor  pilgrims  and  strangers 
911  the  earth,  their  eye  being  to  a  city  in  the  heavens  that 
hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 

Between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  we  reached  the  walls  of 
Duysburg ;  but  the  gates  were  shut,  and  there  being  no 
houses  without  the  walls,  we  laid  us  down  together  in  a 
field,  receiving  both  natural  and  spiritual  refreshment : 
blessed  be  the  Lord.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
we  rose,  sanctifying  God  in  our  hearts,  who  had  kept  us 
that  night,  and  walked  till  five  o'clock,  often  speaking 
one  to  another  of  the  great  and  notable  day  of  the  Lord 
dawning  upon  Germany,  and  of  several  places  in  that 
land  that  were  almost  ripe  unto  harvest. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  1G7 

Soon  after  the  clock  had  struck  five,  they  opened  the 
gates  of  the  city,  and  we  had  not  long-  been  at  our  inn, 
when  it  came  upon  me,  with  a  sweet,  yet  fervent  power, 
to  visit  this  persecuted  Countess  with  a  salutation  from 
the  love  and  life  of  Jesus,  and  to  open  unto  her  more 
plainly  the  way  of  the  Lord,  which  I  did  in  this  follow 
ing'  epistle  : 

(i  To  the  Countess  of  Falkenstein  and  Bruck,  at 
Mulheim. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND: — Jesus,  the  immaculate  Lamb  of 
God,  grieved  and  crucified  by  all  the  workers  of  iniquity, 
illuminate  thy  understanding-,  bless  and  be  with  thy  spirit 
forever ! 

"  Though  unknown,  yet  art  thou  much  beloved,  for  the 
sake  of  thy  desires  and  breathings  of  soul  after  the  living 
God ;  and  because  of  that  suffering  and  tribulation  thou 
hast  begun  to  endure  for  the  sake  of  thy  zeal  towards 
God  ;  myself  having  from  my  childhood  been  both  a 
seeker  after  the  Lord,  and  a  great  sufferer  for  that 
cause,  from  parents,  relations,  companions,  and  the  mag 
istrates  of  this  world.  The  remembrance  whereof  hath 
so  much  the  more  endeared  thy  condition  unto  me  ;  and 
my  soul  hath  often,  in  the  sweet  sense  and  feeling  of  the 
holy  presence  of  God,  and  the  precious  life  of  his  dear  Son 
in  my  heart,  with  great  tenderness  implored  his  Divine 
assistance  unto  thee,  that  thou  mayst  both  be  illuminated 
to  do,  and  made  willing  to  suffer  for  his  name's  sake ; 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  and  of  glory  may  rest  upon  thy 
soul. 

"Know  certainly  that  which  hath  discovered  unto  thee 


168  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  vanities  of  this  world,  the  emptiness  and  the  fading 
of  all  earthly  glory,  the  blessedness  of  the  righteous,  and 
the  joy  of  the  world  that  is  to  come,  is  the  light  of  Christ 
Jesus,  wherewith  He  hath  enlightened  thy  soul ;  for,  '  in 
Him  was  life,  and  that  life  is  the  light  of  mankind.'  Thus 
God  promised  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  to  give  Him  '  for  a 
light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  for  his  salvation  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.'  So  that  Christ  the  Light  is  God's 
gift,  and  eternal  life  is  hid  in  Him,  yea,  all  the  treasures 
of  wisdom  and  knowledge ;  who  is  the  light  of  the  Gos 
pel  temple,  even  true  believers.  And  all  who  receive  this 
light  into  their  hearts,  and  bring  their  deeds  to  it,  to  sec 
in  what  ground  they  are  wrought,  whether  in  God  or  in 
the  evil  one,  and  make  this  blessed  light  the  guide  of  their 
life;  fearing,  with  a  holy  fear,  to  do  anything  that  this 
light  manifests  to  be  evil ;  waiting  and  watching  with  a 
godly  care,  to  be  preserved  blameless  before  the  Lord.  I 
say,  all  such  become  children  of  light,  and  witnesses  of 
the  life  of  Jesus.  0  blessed  wilt  thou  be  forever,  if  in 
the  way  of  this  holy  light  thy  mind  walks  to  the  end ! 

"  Let  this  that  hath  visited  thee  lead  thce  ;  this  seed  of 
light  and  life,  which  is  the  seed  of  the  kingdom.  Yea,  it  is 
CHRIST,  the  true  and  only  seed  of  God,  that  visited  my 
soul,  even  in  my  young  years ;  that  spread  my  sins  in 
order  before  me,  reproved  me,  and  brought  godly  sorrow 
upon  me,  making  me  often  to  weep  in  solitary  places, 
and  say  within  my  soul,  '*  0  that  I  knew  the  Lord  as  I 
ought  to  know  Him  !  O  that  I  served  Him  as  I  ought  to 
serve  Him  ! '  Yea,  often  was  there  a  great  concern  upon 
my  spirit  about  my  eternal  state,  mournfully  desiring  that 
the  Lord  would  give  my  soul  rest  in  the  great  day  or 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  169 

trouble.  Now  was  all  the  glory  of  the  world  as  a  bubble  ; 
yea,  nothing  was  dear  to  me  that  I  might  win  Christ,  for 
the  love,  friendship,  and  pleasure  of  this  world  were  a  bur 
den  unto  my  soul.  And  in  this  seeking  state  I  was  di 
rected  to  the  testimony  of  Jesus  in  my  own  conscience,  as 
the  true  shining  light,  giving  me  to  discern  the  thoughts 
and  intents  of  my  own  heart.  And  no  sooner  was  I 
turned  unto  it,  but  I  found  it  to  be  that  which  from  my 
childhood  had  visited  me,  though  I  distinctly  knew  it  not. 
And  when  I  received  it  in  the  love  of  it,  it  showed  me  all 
that  ever  I  had  done,  and  reproved  all  the  unfruitful  works 
of  darkness,  judging  me  as  a  man  in  the  flesh,  and  laying 
judgment  to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet  in 
me.  And  as  by  the  brightness  of  his  coming  into  my 
soul,  He  discovered  the  man  of  sin  there  upon  his  throne  ; 
so  by  the  breath  of  his  mouth,  which  is  the  two-edged 
sword  of  his  Spirit,  he  destroyeth  his  power  and  kingdom. 
And  having  made  me  a  witness  of  the  death  of  the  cross, 
He  hath  also  made  me  a  witness  of  his  resurrection.  So 
that  in  good  measure  my  soul  can  now  say  I  am  justified 
in  the  spirit,  and  though  the  state  of  condemnation  unto 
death  was  glorious,  yet  justification  unto  life  was  and  is 
more  glorious. 

"  In  this  state  of  the  new  man  all  is  new.  Behold,  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth !  Old  things  come  to  be  done 
away ;  the  old  man  with  his  deeds  put  off.  Now,  new 
thoughts,  new  desires,  new  affections,  new  love,  new 
friendship,  new  society,  new  kindred,  new  faith,  even  that 
which  ovcrcomcth  this  world  through  many  tribulations ; 
and  new  hope,  even  that  living  hope  that  is  founded  upon 
true  experience,  which  holds  out  all  storms,  and  can  see  to 
15 


170  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  glory  that  is  invisible  to  carnal  eyes,  in  the  midst  of 
the  greatest  tempest. 

"It  is  the  same  blessed  seed  of  light,  life/and  grace 
which  from  God  the  Father  is  sown  in  thy  heart,  and 
which  hath  moved  and  wrought  there  the  change  which 
thou  hast  witnessed  from  the  spirit  of  this  world.  Turn 
to  it,  watch  in  it,  that  by  it  thou  mayst  be  kept  from  all 
that  it  discovers  to  be  contrary  to  God ;  especially  from 
thyself,  from  thy  own  runnings,  willings,  and  strivings. 
For  whatsoever  is  not  born  of  the  Spirit  is  flesh,  and  that 
inherits  not  the  kingdom  of  God ;  but  all  that  sow  to  it- 
shall  inherit  corruption  By  this  thou  wilt  come  to  fool, 
not  only  all  sin  to  be  a  burden,  but  all  thy  own  righteous 
ness;  yea,  all  man's  righteousness  to  be  a  burden.  Thou 
wilt  see  the  difference  between  the  duties  and  prayers  which 
thou  begcttest  and  the  duties  and  prayers  which,  in  thy  true 
silence  from  all  self-activity  of  mind,  the  Lord  begets  in  thec. 

"  0  that  thou  mightst  know  the  mystery  of  the  new 
birth,  and  what  that  is  that  can  truly  call  God,  Father ; 
even  that  which  is  begotten  of  Him,  which  liveth,  and 
breatheth,  and  hath  its  beginning  and  being  in  that  life 
which  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  and  by  which  it  hath 
been  quickened  to  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  Christ 
and  God.  And  this  thou  shalt  not  fail  to  know  and 
enjoy,  as  thou  patiently  sufferest  the  Lord  to  work  his 
own  work  in  thce  by  his  own  blessed  Spirit.  And  that 
which  will  give  thce  to  savor  and  discern  the  right 
motions  and  conceptions,  duties  and  performances  in  thy 
self  from  the  false,  w^ill  give  thee  to  savor  and  discern 
that  which  is  right  from  that  which  is  false  in  others ; 
that  which  is  of  God  from  that  which  is  of  man. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  171 

"  Have  a  care  of  gathering  sticks  and  kindling  a  fire  of 
thy  own,  and  then  compassing  thyself  about  with  the 
sparks  of  the  fire  which  thou  hast  kindled,  for  the  end 
of  this  state  is  to  lie  down  in  sorrow,  because  the  heavenly 
fire  is  absent  which  maketh  the  sacrifice  acceptable.  With 
out  Christ  we  can  do  nothing,  and  blessed  are  they  that 
stir  not  before  the  angel  moveth  the  waters,  and  go  not 
before  Christ,  but  are  led  by  Him,  and  that  awaken  not 
their  Beloved  till  He  please ;  in  whose  hands  the  times 
and  the  seasons  are.  0  blessed  are  they  whose  eyes  are 
opened  to  see  Him  always  present,  a  God  always  nigh 
at  hand,  whose  hearts  are  stayed  upon  his  holy  appearance 
in  them,  and  are  thereby  translated  into  his  likeness  ; 
whose  faith  and  hope  are  in  Christ  in  them,  the  hope  of 
glory. 

"  My  dear  friend,  weigh  these  things  with  a  serious,  re 
tired,  sweet,  and  tender  frame  of  spirit,  and  God,  who  hath 
culled  me  and  thee  by  the  light  of  his  dear  Son,  open  thy 
understanding  to  perceive  the  Truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and 
what  is  the  mystery  of  the  fellowship  of  the  saints  in  light. 
So  to  the  Lord  I  recommend  thee,  the  watchman  and 
keeper  of  Israel.  The  Lord  be  thy  strength  and  holy 
comfort,  and  speak  peace  to  thee,  and  never  leave  thee 
nor  forsake  thee  till  He  hath  conducted  thee,  through 
all  tribulations,  to  his  everlasting  kingdom  of  rest  and 
glory. 

"  0  dear  heart !  be  valiant,  and  stay  thyself  upon  Christ 
Jesus,  the  everlasting  rock,  and  feel  Him  a  fountain  in  thy 
soul ;  feel  his  blood  to  cleanse,  and  his  blood  to  drink,  and 
his  flesh  to  eat ;  feed  upon  Him,  for  God  hath  given  Him 
for  the  life  of  the  world. 


172  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

"  I  had  seen  thec,  had  not  thy  father's  strange  sort  of 
severity  hindered.  And  this  let  me  add  for  thy  particulai 
comfort,  that  though  I  have  been  a  man  of  great  anguish 
and  sorrow  because  of  the  scorn  and  reproach  that  hath 
attended  my  separation  from  the  world  (having  been 
taught  of  Jesus  to  turn  my  back  upon  all  for  the  sake 
of  that  glory  that  shall  be  revealed),  yet  to  God's  honor  I 
can  say  it,  I  have  a  hundred  friends  for  one.  Yea,  God 
hath  turned  the  hearts  of  my  enemies  towards  me;  lie 
hath  fulfilled  his  promise  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  parents 
unto  the  children.  For  my  parents,  that  once  disowned 
me  for  this  blessed  testimony's  sake,  have  come  to  love. 
me  above  all,  and  have  left  me  all,  thinking  they  could 
never  do  and  leave  enough  for  me.  0  how  good  is  the 
Lord !  yea,  the  ways  of  his  mercy  are  even  past  finding 
out. 

"  Wherefore,  my  dear  friend,  trust  in  the  Lord  forever ; 
and  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  the  God  of 
the  prophets  and  of  the  apostles,  the  God  of  all  the  holy 
martyrs  of  Jesus,  illuminate,  fortify,  and  preserve  thee 
steadfast,  that  in  the  end  thou  mayst  receive  the  reward 
of  life  and  eternal  salvation,  to  whom  be  glory,  and  to  the 
Lamb  that  sits  upon  the  throne,  one  God  and  one  Lord, 
blessed  and  magnified  forever  and  ever.  Amen. 

"  Thy  great  and  faithful  lover  for  the  blessed  and  holy 
Truth's  sake, 

WILLIAM  PENN. 

"PuYSBURG,  the  13th  of  the  Seventh  month,  1677." 

Here  follows  a  letter  to  her  father,  the  Graef  of  Bruck 
and  Falkenstein  [of  which  we  give  a  part  | : 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  173 

"  To  the  Graef  or  Earl  of  Bruck  and  Falkenstein. 

"  FRIEND: — I  wish  thy  salvation,  and  the  Lord  reward 
thee  good  for  the  evil  that  thou  showedst  unto  me  and  my 
friends  the  last  night,  if  it  be  his  will.  But  since  thou  art 
but  a  mortal  man,  one  that  must  give  an  account,  in  com 
mon  with  all,  to  the  immortal  God,  let  me  a  little  expostu 
late  with  thee. 

"  For  thy  saying, £  We  want  no  Quakers  here,'  I  say, 
under  favor,  you  do  ;  for  a  true  Quaker  is  one  that 
tremblcth  at  the  word  of  the  Lord,  that  worketh  out  his 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  and  all  the  days  of  his 
appointed  time  waiteth  in  the  light  and  grace  of  God  till 
his  great  change  cometh.  One  that  takcth  up  the  daily 
cross  to  his  will  and  lusts,  that  he  might  do  the  will  of 
God  manifested  to  him  by  the  light  of  Jesus  in  his  con 
science,  and  according  to  the  holy  precepts  and  examples 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  Truth,  laid  down  by  Jesus  and 
his  followers  for  the  ages  to  come.  Yea,  he  is  one  that 
lovcth  his  enemies  rather  than  feareth  them  ;  that  blesseth 
those  that  curse  him,  and  prayeth  for  those  that  despitefully 
treat  him,  as  God  knoweth  we  do  for  thee.  Oh  that  thou 
wcrt  such  a  Quaker!  Then  wouldst  thou  rule  for  God, 
and  act  in  all  things  as  one  that  must  give  an  account  to 
God  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  whether  good  or  evil. 
Then  would  temperance,  mercy,  justice,  meekness,  and  the 
fear  of  the  Lord  dwell  in  thy  heart,  and  in  thy  family,  and 
country. 

"  Repent,  I  exhort  thee,  and  consider  thy  latter  end,  for 
thy  days  are  not  like  to  be  many  in  this  world ;  therefore, 
mind  the  things  that  make  for  thy  eternal  peace,  lest 
15* 


174  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

distress  come  upon  thee  as  an  armed  man,  and  there  be 
none  to  deliver  thec  ! 

"  I  am  thy  well-wishing  friend, 

WILLIAM  PENN. 
"DuYSBURG,  3d  of  the  Seventh  month,  1G77." 

This  being  done,  we  went  to  Dr.  Mastricht's  to  inform 
him  of  what  had  passed,  who,  though  of  a  kind  disposi 
tion  and  very  friendly  to  us,  yet  seemed  surprised  with 
fear,  (the  common  disease  of  this  country,)  crying  out, 
"What  will  become  of  this  poor  Countess?  Her  father 
hath  called  her  Quaker  a  long  time,  behaving  himself 
very  severely  to  her,  but  now  he  will  conclude  she  is 
one  indeed,  and  he  will  lead  her  a  lamentable  life.  I 
know,"  said  he,  "you  care  not  for  suffering,  but  she  is  to 
be  pitied."  We  told  him  that  we  both  loved  her  and 
pitied  her,  and  could  lay  down  our  lives  for  her,  as  Christ 
hath  done  for  us  in  the  will  of  God,  if  we  could  thereby 
do  her  good ;  but  that  we  had  not  mentioned  her  name, 
neither  was  the  letter  that  he  gave  us  to  her  so  much  as 
seen  or  known  of  her  father.  But  still  he  feared  that  our 
carriage  would  incense  the  Graef  so  much  the  more  against 
both  his  daughter,  and  all  those  serious  and  inquiring 
people  up  and  down  his  country.  We  answered  with  an 
earnestness  of  spirit  that  they  had  minded  the  incensings 
and  wrath  of  men  too  much  already,  and  that  true  religion 
would  never  spring  or  grow  under  such  fears,  and  that  it 
was  time  for  all  who  felt  anything  of  the  work  of  God  in 
their  hearts,  to  cast  away  the  slavish  fear^of  man,  and  to 
come  forth  in  the  boldness  of  the  true  Christian  life ;  yea, 
that  sufferings  break  and  make  way  for  greater  liberty,  and 
that  God  was  wiser  and  stronger  than  man. 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  175 

It  was  now  something  past  the  twelfth  hour  of  the  day. 
In  iho  way  to  our  lodging  we  met  a  messenger  from  the 
Countess  of  Falkenstein,  a  tender  young  man,  near  to  the 
kingdom,  who  saluted  us  in  her  name  with  much  love  ; 
telling  us  that  she  was  much  grieved  at  the  entertainment 
of  her  father  towards  us,  advising  us  not  to  expose  our 
selves  to  such  difficulties  and  hardships,  for  it  would  grieve 
her  heart  that  any  who  came  in  the  love  of  God  to  visit 
her,  should  be  so  severely  handled ;  for  at  some  he  set  his 
dogs,  upon  others  he  puts  his  soldiers  to  beat  them.  "  But 
what  shall  I  say?  that  itself  must  not  hinder  you  from 
doing  good,"  said  the  Countess.  We  desired  the  remem 
brance  of  our  kind  love  unto  her,  and  that  he  would  let 
her  know  that  our  concern  was  not  for  ourselves,  but  for 
her. 

It  came  upon  me  to  write  a  letter  to  the  noble  young 
woman  at  Frankfort,  as  follows : 

"  DEAR  FRIEND,  JOANNA  ELEONORA  MALANE  : — My  dear 
nnd  tender  love-,  which  God  hath  raised  in  my  heart  by 
his  living  word  to  all  mankind,  (but  more  especially  unto 
those  in  whom  He  hath  begotten  a  holy  hunger  and  thirst 
after  Him,)  saluteth  thce.  And  amongst  those  of  that 
place  where  thou  livcst  the  remembrance  of  thee,  with 
thy  companions,  is  most  particularly  and  eminently  at 
this  time  brought  before  me.  And  the  sense  of  your 
open-heartedness,  simplicity,  and  sincere  love  to  the  testi 
mony  of  Jesus  delivered  by  us  unto  you  hath  deeply  en 
gaged  my  heart  towards  you,  and  often  raised  in  my  soul 
heavenly  breathings  to  the  God  of  my  life  that  He  would 
keep  you  in  the  daily  sense  of  that  divine  life  which  then 


176  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

affected  you.  For  this  know,  it  was  the  life  in  yourselves 
that  so  sweetly  visited  you,  by  the  ministry  of  life  through 
us. 

"  Wherefore,  love  the  divine  life  and  light  in  yourselves. 
Be  retired  and  still.  Let  that  holy  seed  move  in  all  heav 
enly  things  before  you  move ;  for  no  one  receiveth  any 
thing  that  truly  profiteth  but  what  he  receiveth  from 
above.  Thus  said  John  to  his  disciples.  Now  that  that 
stirreth  in  your  hearts  draweth  you  out  of  the  world, 
slayeth  you  to  all  the  vain  glory,  and  pleasure,  and  empty 
worships  that  arc  in  it;  this  is  from  above,  the  heavenly 
seed  of  God,  pure  and  incorruptible,  which  is  come  down 
from  heaven  to  make  you  heavenly,  that  in  heavenly 
places  you  may  dwell,  and  witness  with  the  saints  of  old 
this  heavenly  treasure  in  earthen  vessels. 

"  0  stay  your  minds  upon  the  appearance  of  Jesus  in 
you,  in  whose  light  you  shall  see  light.  It  will  make  you 
of  a  weighty,  considering  spirit  more  and  more,  that  you 
may  see  how  the  mystery  of  iniquity  hath  wrought,  and 
how  mankind  is  corrupted  in  all  things,  and  what  part 
you  yet  have  which  belongeth  not  to  the  paradise  of  God, 
that  you  may  lay  it  all  down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  fol 
low  Him,  who  is  going  up  and  down  doing  good  to  all  that 
believe  in  his  name.  So  possess  your  souls  in  the  sensible 
feeling  of  his"  daily  divine  visits,  shinings,  and  breathings 
upon  your  spirits,  and  wait  diligently  and  watch  circum 
spectly,  lest  the  enemy  surprise  you,  or  your  Lord  come 
at  unawares  upon  you,  and  you  be  unprepared  to  receive 
his  sweet  and  precious  visitations. 

"  Thy  faithful  friend  and  the  Lord's  day-laborer, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  177 

We  took  wagon  for  Wiewart,  the  mansion-house  of  the 
family  of  the  Somerdykcs,  where  J.  de  Labadie's  company 
reside,  it  being  strong  upon  my  spirit  to  give  them  a  visit. 
We  got  thither  about  live  o'clock  ;  and  as  we  were  walking 
over  a  field  to  the  house  we  met  a  young  man  of  that 
company  who  conducted  us  in.  I  asked  for  Ivon,  the 
pastor,  and  Anna  Maria  Schurmans.  Ivon  presently 
came  with  his  co-pastor.  They  received  us  very  civilly, 
however.  They  seemed  shy  of  letting  me  speak  with 
Anna  Maria  Schurmans,  objecting  her  weakness,  age, 
taking  physic,  etc. ;  but,  putting  them  in  mind  how  un 
handsomely  I  was  used  at  Herwerden  six  years  ago  by 
J.  dc  Labadie,  their  father,  who,  though  I  came  a  great 
journey  to  visit  him  and  his  people,  suffered  me  not  to 
speak  with  them,  they  presently  complied,  and  went  in 
to  let  her  know  that  such  a  person  desired  to  speak  with 
her,  and  quickly  returned,  desiring  me  to  come  in  ;  but, 
foreseeing  my  time  would  be  too  short  for  my  message, 
the  sun  being  near  setting  and  having  to  go  on  foot  two 
English  miles  of  unknowai  way  to  our  lodging,  I  desired 
that  they  would  give  me  an  opportunity  the  next  morn 
ing,  which  they  readily  complied  with.  So  I  took  my 
leave  of  them,  who  in  a  friendly  manner  brought  us  a 
little  on  our  way.  That  night  a  great  weight  was  upon 
my  spirit,  and  especially  the  next  morning ;  yet  my  faith 
was  in  the  power  of  God,  and  I  had  a  plain  sight  that  I 
should  have  a  good  service  among  them ;  however,  I 
should  clear  my  conscience,  and  my  peace  should  rest 
with  me. 

The  next  morning  I  returned  to  them,  and  John  Glaus 
along  with  me.  So  soon  as  we  came  we  were  brought 

M 


178  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

into  Anna  Maria  Schurmans'  chamber,  where  also  was 
with  her  one  of  the  three  Somerdykes. 

This  Anna  Maria  Schurmans  aforesaid  is  an  ancient 
maiden  above  sixty  years  of  age,  of  great  note  and  fame 
for  learning  in  languages  and  philosophy,  and  hath  ob 
tained  a  considerable  place  among  the  most  learned  men 
of  this  age.  The  Somerdykes  are  daughters  to  a  noble- 
nian  of  the  Hague,  people  of  great  breeding  and  inheri 
tances.  These,  with  several  other  persons,  being  affected 
with  the  zealous  declamation  of  J.  de  Labadie  against  the 
dead  and  formal  churches  of  the  world,  and  awakened  to 
seek  after  a  more  spiritual  fellowship  and  society,  sepa 
rated  themselves  from  the  common  Calvinistic  churches, 
and  followed  him  in  the  way  of  a  refined  independency. 

They  are  a  serious,  plain  people,  and  are  come  nearer 
to  Friends  as  to  silence  in  meetings,  women  speaking, 
preaching  by  the  Spirit,  plainness  in  garb  and  furniture 
in  their  houses.  With  these  two  we  had  the  company  of 
the  two  pastors  and  a  doctor  of  physic.  After  some  si 
lence,  I  proposed  this  question  to  them  :  What  was  it  that 
induced  them  to  separate  from  the  common  way  they  for 
merly  lived  in  ?  I  desired  them  that  they  would  be  pleased 
to  be  plain  and  open  with  me  as  to  the  ground  of  their 
separation ;  for  I  came  not  to  cavil,  but  in  a  Christian 
spirit  to  be  informed. 

Upon  this,  Ivon,  the  chief  pastor,  gave  us  the  history 
of  J.  de  Labadie's  education  ;  how  he  was  bred  among  the 
Jesuits,  and  deserted  them  and  embraced  the  Protestant 
religion  ;  and  finally,  of  his  great  dissatisfaction  with  the 
Protestant  churches  of  France;  and  that  if  God  would  not 
give  them  a  purer  church,  they  three  would  sit  down  by 


OF     W  1 L 1, 1  A  M     P  E  X  X  .  179 

themselves,  resolving  never  more  to  mix  themselves  among 
the  Babylonish  assemblies  of  the  world,  adding  several 
solemn  appeals  concerning  the  simplicity  and  integrity  of 
their  hearts  in  these  things. 

Ivon  having  done,  Anna  Maria  Schurmans  began  in 
this  manner:  "I  find  myself  constrained  to  add  a  short 
testimony."  She  told  us  her  former  life,  of  her  pleasure 
in  learning,  and  her  love  to  the  religion  she  was  brought 
up  in  ;  but  confessed  she  knew  not  God  or  Christ  truly  all 
that  while.  And  though  from  a  child  God  had  visited  her 
at  times,  yet  she  never  felt  such  a  powerful  stroke  as  by 
the  ministry  of  J.  de  Labadie.  She  saw  her  learning  to 
be  vanity  and  her  religion  like  a  body  of  death ;  she  re 
solved  to  despise  the  shame,  desert  her  former  way  of 
living  and  acquaintance,  and  to  join  herself  with  this  little 
family  that  was  retired  out  of  the  world ;  among  whom 
she  desired  to  be  found  a  living  sacrifice,  offered  up  entirely 
to  the  Lord.  She  spoke  in  a  very  serious  and  broken 
sense,  not  without  some  trembling.  These  are  but  short 
hints  of  what  she  said. 

After  she  had  done,  one  of  the  Somerdykes  began  in  a 
very  reverent  and  weighty  frame  of  mind,  "and  in  a  sense 
that  very  well  suited  her  contempt  of  the  world.  She  told 
us  how  often  she  had  mourned  from  her  young  years  be 
cause  she  did  not  know  the  Lord  as  she  desired,  often  say 
ing  within  herself,  ''  If  God  would  make  known  to  me  his 
ways,  I  would  trample  upon  all  the  pride  and  glory  of  the 
world."  She  earnestly  expressed  the  frequent  anguish  of 
spirit  she  had  because  of  the  deadness  and  formality  of  the 
Christians  she  was  bred  among,  saying  to  herself,  "  Oh, 
the  pride,  the  lusts,  the  vain  pleasures  in  which  Christians 


180  PASSAGES     FROM     T  IT  E     LIFE 

live !  Can  this  be  the  way  to  heaven  ?  Is  this  the  waj 
to  glory  ?  Are  these  foliqwcrs  of  Christ  ?  Oh,  no  !  Oh, 
God !  where  is  thy  little  flock  ?  Where  is  thy  little  family 
that  will  live  entirely  to  thee — that  will  follow  thee  ? 
Make  me  one  of  that  number."  "And,"  continued  she, 
"when  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  J.  de  Labadie,  came  into 
Holland,  I,  among  others,  had  a  curiosity  to  hear  him,  and 
with,  several  was  deeply  a  fleeted  by  him.  He  spoke  the 
very  thoughts  of  my  heart ;  methought  my  heart  was 
pricked  when  I  heard  him  ;  and  I  resolved  by  the  grace 
of  God  to  abandon  all  the  glory  and  pride  of  this  world, 
to  be  one  of  those  who  should  sit  down  with  him  in  a 
separation  from  the  vain  and  dead  worships  of  this  world. 
I  count  myself  happy  that  I  ever  met  with  him  and  these 
pastors,  who  seek  not  themselves  but  the  Lord.  And  we 
are  a  family  that  live  together  in  love,  of  one  soul  and  one 
spirit,  entirely  given  up  to  serve  the  Lord ;  and  this  is  the 
greatest  joy  in  the  world." 

After  her,  du  Lignon,  the  other  pastor,  gave  us  also  an 
account  of  his  inducement  to  embrace  J.  de  Labadie,  but 
not  so  lively. 

After  him,  the  doctor  of  physic,  who  had  been  bred 
for  a  priest,  but  voluntarily  refused  that  calling,  expressed 
himself  after  this  manner:  "  I  can  also  bear  my  testimony 
in  the  presence  of  God  that  though  I  lived  in  as  much 
reputation  at  the  university  as  any  of  my  colleagues  or 
companions,  and  was  well  reputed  for  sobriety  and  honesty, 
yet  I  never  felt  such  a  living  sense  of  God  as  when  I  heard 
the  servant  of  the  Lord,  J.  de  Labadie,"  adding,  "  The  first 
day  I  heard  him,  I  was  so  struck  and  affected  that  I  can 
truly  say,  through  the  good  grace  of  God,  and  the  conduct 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  181 

of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  was  to  me  as  the  day  of  my  salvation, 
he  did  so  livingly  touch  my  heart  with  a  sense  of  the  truo 
Christian  worship ;  upon  which  I  forsook  the  university 
and  resolved  to  be  one  of  this  family;  and  this  I  can  say 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord." 

P.  I  von  concluded:  "  This  is  what  we  have  to  say  con 
cerning  the  work  of  God  amongst  us." 

All  this  while  1  minded  not  so  much  their  words  as  I 
felt  and  had  unity  with  a  measure  of  divine  sense  that  was 
upon  them.  Certainly  the  Lord  hath  been  amongst  them  ; 
yea,  I  had  a  living  sense  in  my  heart  that  somewhat  of 
the  breath  of  life  had  breathed  upon  them  ;  and  though 
they  were  in  great  mixtures,  yet  God's  love  was  towrards 
them. 

After  some  silence  I  began  on  this  wise:  "  I  come  not 
to  judge  you,  but  to  visit  you ;  not  to  quarrel  or  dispute, 
but  to  speak  of  the  things  of  God's  kingdom  ;  and  I  have- 
no  prejudice,  but  great  love  and  regard  in  my  heart  towards 
you ;  wherefore,  hear  me  with  Christian  patience  and 
tenderness. 

"  I  do  confess  and  believe  that  God  hath  touched  your 
hearts  with  his  divine  linger,  and  that  his  work  is  amongst 
you ;  that  it  was  his  Spirit  that  gave  you  a  sight  of  the 
vanity  and  folly  of  this  world,  and  that  hath  made  you 
sensible  of  the  dead  religions  that  are  in  it.  It  is  this 
sense  I  love  and  honor  ;  and  I  am  so  far  from  undervaluing 
or  opposing  this  tender  sense  I  feel  upon  you,  that  this  it 
is  1  am  come  to  visit,  and  you  for  the  love  of  it.  And  as 
for  the  reproaches  that  may  attend  you  on  the  score  of 
your  separation,  with  all  the  reports  that  therefore  go  con 
cerning  you,  they  are  what  I  respect  you  for,  being  well 
16 


182.  PASSAGES    FKOM    T  H  E    LIFE 

acquainted  with  the  nature  and  practice  of  this  world  to 
wards  those  that  retire  out  of  it. 

"  Now  since  I  have  with  patience,  and  I  can  truly  say 
with  great  satisfaction,  heard  your  account  of  your  experi 
ences,  give  me  the  like  Christian  freedom  to  tell  you  mine, 
to  the  end  you  may  have  some  sense  of  the  work  of  God 
in  me  ;  for  those  who  are  come  to  any  measure  of  a  Divine 
sense  they  are  as  looking-glasses  to  each  other,  seeing 
themselves  in  each  other,  as  face  answereth  face  in  a  glass." 

Here  I  began  to  let  them  know  how  and  when  the 
Lord  first  appeared  unto  me,  which  was  about  the  twelfth 
year  of  my  age,  anno  1650.  How  at  times,  between  that 
and  the  fifteenth,  the  Lord  visited  me,  and  the  divine 
impressions  He  gave  me  of  himself;  of  my  persecution  at 
Oxford,  and  how  the  Lord  sustained  me  in  the  midst  of 
that  hellish  darkness  and  debauchery ;  of  my  being  ban 
ished  the  college ;  the  bitter  usage  I  underwent  when  I 
returned  to  my  father — whipping,  beating,  and  turning 
out  of  doors  in  1GG2;  of  the  Lord's  dealings  with  me  in 
France,  and  in  the  time  of  the  great  plague  in  London. 
In  fine,  the  deep  sense  He  gave  me  of  the  vanity  of  this 
world — of  the  irrcligiousness  of  the  religions  of  it.  Then 
of  my  mournful  and  bitter  cries  to  Him  that  He  would 
show  me  his  own  way  of  life  and  salvation,  and  my  reso 
lutions  to  follow  Him,  whatever  reproaches  or  sufferings 
should  attend  me ;  and  that  with  great  reverence  and 
brokenness  of  spirit.  How,  after  all  this,  the  glory  of  the 
world  overtook  me,  and  I  was,  even  ready  to  give  up  my 
self  unto  it,  seeing  as  yet  no  such  thing  as  the  primitive 
spirit  and  church  on  the  earth,  and  being  ready  to  faint 
concerning  my  hope  of  the  restitution  of  sAl  things.  It 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  183 

was  at  this  time  that  the  Lord  visited  me  with  a  certain 
sound  and  testimony  of  his  eternal  word,  through  one  of 
those  the  world  calls  a  Quaker,  namely,  Thomas  Loe.  I 
related  to  them  the  bitter  mockings  and  scornings  that  fell 
upon  me,  the  displeasure  of  my  parents,  the  invectiveness 
and  cruelty  of  the  priests,  the  strangeness  of  all  my  com 
panions  ;  what  a  sign  and  wonder  they  made  of  me ;  but, 
above  all,  that  great  cross  of  resisting  and  watching  against 
my  own  inward  vain  affections  and  thoughts. 

Here  I  had  a  fine  opportunity  to  speak  of  the  mystery 
of  iniquity  and  ungodliness  in  the  root  and  ground,  and  to 
give  them  an  account  of  the  power  and  presence  of  God 
which  attended  us  in  our  public  testimonies  and  sufferings ; 
after  an  indirect  manner  censuring  their  weaknesses  by 
declaring  and  commending  the  contrary  practices  among 
Friends,  too  large  to  be  here  related.  And  notwithstand 
ing  all  my  sufferings  -and  trials  by  magistrates,  parents, 
companions,  and,  above  all,  from  the  priests  of  the  false 
religions  in  the  world,  the  Lord  hath  preserved  me  to  this 
day,  and  hath  given  me  an  hundred-fold  in  this  world  as 
well  as  the  assurance  of  life  everlasting ;  informing  them 
of  the  tenderness  of  my  father  to  me  before  and  at  his 
death  ;  and  how  through  patience  arid  long-suffering  all 
opposition  was  conquered.  Then  I  began  my  exhortation 
unto  them,  which  was  on  this  wise  : 

That  since  God  had  given  me  and  them  a  Divine  sense 
of  Him,  our  eye  should  be  to  Him  and  not  to  man ;  that 
we  might  come  more  into  a  silence  of  ourselves,  and  a 
growth  into  that  heavenly  sense.  That  this  was  the  work 
of  the  true  ministry,  not  to  keep  people  to  themselves,  ever 
teaching  them,  but  to  turn  them  to  God,  the  new  covenant 


184  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

teacher,  and  to  Christ,  the  great  Gospel  minister.  Tim? 
John  did,  and  thought  it  no  dishonor  that  they  left  him 
to  go  to  Christ.  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,"  said  he, 
"that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world!"  And  even 
John's  disciples  left  him  to  follow  Christ.  Nay,  John 
testifies  of  himself  that  he  was  to  decrease  and  Christ  was 
to  increase.  Wherefore  I  pressed  them  to  have  their  eye 
to  Christ,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  ;  who  is  from  heaven 
heavenly;  to  sec  that  He  increase  in  them.  Yea,  that 
henceforward  they  should  know  no  man  after  the  flesh. 
That  their  knowledge  of,  and  regard  for  and  fellowship, 
one  with  another  should  stand  in  the  revelation  of  the 
Son  of  God  in  them,  who  is  God's  great  prophet,  by  whom 
God  speaketh  in  these  latter  days.  And  if  their  ministers 
be  true  ministers  they  will  count  it  their  glory  to  give  way 
to  Christ,  and  .that  they  decrease  and  Christ  increase  ;  tluit 
the  instrument  giveth  way  to  him  that  useth  it,  the  ser 
vant  to  the  Lord.  Which,  though  it  seemeth  to  detract 
from  the  ministers,  yet  it  was,  and  is,  the  glory  of  a  true 
minister  that  God  and  Christ  should  be  all  in  all,  and  that 
his  will  should  be  fulfilled.  I  told  them  the  day  of  the 
Lord  God  was  come,  and  all  people  must  look  to  Him  for 
salvation ;  that  all  p'eoplc  must  now  come  to  keep  God's 
great  sabbath,  to  rest  from  mere  man  and  the  spirit  of  man, 
and  all  men's  thoughts,  words,  and  works;  and  that  if 
they  were  true  believers  they  were  at  least  entering  into 
their  rest. 

I  left  the  blessing  and  peace  of  Jesus  among  them,  de 
parting  in  the  love  and  peace  of  God;  and  I  must  needs 
say  they  were,  beyond  expectation,  tender  and  respectful 
to  us.  The  Lord  comforted  my  soul  in  this  service ;  yea, 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  185 

all  that  is  within  me  magnified  his  holy  name,  because  of 
Irs  blessed  presence  that  was  with  us. 

The  two  pastors  and  the  doctor  came  with  us  a  field's 
length,  where  we  took  wagon,  and  the  chiefest  of  them 
took  occasion  to  ask  me  if  the  Truth  rose  not  first  amongst 
a  poor,  illiterate,  and  simple  sort  of  people  ?  I  told  him 
yes,  that  was  our  comfort,  and  that  we  owed  it  not  to  the 
learning  of  this  world.  "Then,"  said  he,  "let  not  the 
learning  of  this  world  be  used  to  defend  that  which  the 
spirit  of  God  hath  brought  forth,  for  scholars  now  coining 
among  you  will  be  apt  to  mix  school  learning  amongst 
your  simpler  and  purer  language,  and  thereby  obscure  the 
brightness  of  the  testimony."  I  told  him  it  was  good  for 
us  all  to  have  a  care  of  our  own  spirits,  words,  and  works, 
confessing  what  he  said  had  weight  in  it;  telling  him  it 
was  our  care  to  write  and  speak  according  to  the  Divine 
sense,  and  not  human  invention.  So  in  a  very  sober  and 
serious  manner  we  parted,  being  about  the  twelfth  hour  at 
noon. 

The  next  morning  about  seven  o'clock,  being  the  10th 
of  the  Seventh  month,  we  took  boat  for  Embden,  which  is 
about  three  leagues.  On  board  of  that  vessel  it  came  upon 
me  to  write  a  letter  to  Friends  in  England  concerning  the 
Separatists.  (Wilkinson  and  Story  and  their  followers, 
who  had  caused  a  schism  among  Friends  on  the  subject 
of  church  discipline.) 

"To  Friends  everywhere,  concerning  the   present  Sep 
aratists,  and  tJteir  spirit  of  separation. 

"FiUKNDS  AND  BRETHREN. — By  a  mighty  hand  and  by 
an  outstretched  arm,  hath  the  Lord  God  everlasting  gath- 


186  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 


to  be  a  people,  and  in  his  own  power  and  life  hath 
He  preserved  us  a  people  unto  this  day  ;  and  praises  be  to 
his  eternal  name  !  no  weapon  that  hath  yet  been  formed 
against  us,  either  from  without  or  from  within,  hath 
prospered. 

"  Now,  this  I  say  unto  you,  and  that  in  his  counsel  who 
hath  visited  us  ;  —  whoever  goeth  out  of  the  unity  witMheir 
brethren,  are  first  gone  out  of  unity  with  the  power  and 
life  of  God  in  themselves,  in  which  the  unity  of  the 
brethren  standeth  ;  and  the  least  member  of  the  body  in 
the  unity  standeth  on  the  top  of  them,  and  hath  a  judg 
ment  against  them.  Unto  which  judgment,  of  both 
great  and  small  amongst  the  living  family  that  in  unity 
are  preserved,  they  must  bow  before  they  can  come  into 
the  unity  again.  Yea,  this  they  will  readily  do,  if  they 
are  come  into  unity  with  the  life  and  power  of  God  in 
themselves,  which  is  the  holy  root  that  beareth  the  tree, 
the  fruit,  and  the  leaves,  all  receiving  life  and  virtue  from 
it,  and  thereby  are  nourished  unto  God's  praise. 

"  I  feel  this  unruly  spirit  is  tormented  under  the  stroke 
and  judgment  of  the  power,  and  in  its  subtlety  is  seeking 
occasion  against  the  instruments,  by  whom  the  power 
gave  it  forth.  Let  all  have  a  care  how  they  touch  with 
this  spirit  in  those  workings,  for  by  being  one  with  this 
spirit  in  judging  those  who  have  been  faithful,  according 
to  the  gift  of  wisdom  they  have  received  from  God,  they 
will  feed  it  and  fortify  it,  and  in  the  end  come  to  be  one 
with  it  against  the  power  itself,  and  .at  last  run  out  and 
become  open  enemies  and  despisers,  for  whom  is  reserved 
the  blackness  of  darkness  forever  unless  they  repent. 

'•  Wherefore,  all  that  labor  for  the  restoration  of  those 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  187 

tvho  arc  out  of  unity  with  the  brethren,  let  them  be  such 
as  are  of  a  sound  mind  themselves,  else  what  will  they 
gather  to  ?  or  what  will  they  gather  from  ?  And  let  them 
labor  in  the  simplicity,  integrity,  love,  and  zeal  of  the 
power  that  first  gathered  us  to  God.  For  that  which  is 
rightly  gotten  will  endure,  but  that  which  is  obtained  by 
the  contrivance,  interest,  and  persuasions  of  men  getteth 
no  further  than  man. 

"  Therefore,  let  none  look  out  of  the  Seed  for  help,  for 
all  power  is  in  it,  and  there  the  true  light  and  judgment 
stand  forever,  and  that  Seed  only  hath  God  ordained  to 
brui.se  the  serpent's  head.  Wherefore,  let  us  be  still,  and 
trust  and  confide  therein  forever.  Let  none  look  back, 
faint,  or  consult,  for  if  they  do,  they  will  darken  their  pure 
eye  and  lose  their  way. 

"  As  all  wrould  stand  before  the  Lord  and  his  people,  let 
not  this  spirit  be  reasoned  withal ;  enter  not  into  proposals 
and  articles  with  it,  but  feed  it  with  judgment;  that  is 
God's  decree.  So  may  the  souls  that  are  deceived,  come 
by  the  right  door  into  the  heavenly  unity. 

"  My  brethren,  look  forwards,  and  lift  up  your  eyes,  for 
the  fields  are  even  white  unto  harvest,  up  and  down  the 
nations.  Let  us  all  who  have  received  the  gift  from  God, 
wait  in  deep  humility  to  be  raised  up  and  empowered  by 
Him  more  and  more,  to  eye  and  prosecute  his  universal 
service  in  the  world;  to  whose  appearance  the  kings  and 
kingdoms  of  the  Gentiles  shall  bring  their  glory.  Which 
noble  work,  had  those  who  arc  gone  into  the  separation 
but  laid  deeply  to  heart,  they  would  never  have  sat  at 
home  murmuring,  fretting,  and  quarrelling  against  the 
L-omely  and  godly  order  and  practice  of  their  brethren; 


188  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

but  love,  peace,  and  joy  had  filled  their  hearts,  and  not 
the  troubler  and  accuser  of  the  brethren,  who  Lath 
opened  an  evil  eye  in  them,  and  begotten  them  into  a 
discontented,  self-separating  mind,  and  this  image  they 
bear,  and  the  pure  eye  sees  it. 

"  0  let  none  tempt  the  Lord  !  Let  us  all  dwell  in  that 
divine  sense  that  He  hath  begotten  in  us,  where  our  love, 
as  a  fresh  and  pure  stream,  will  always  flow  to  God  and 
to  one  another.  Here  all  his  ways  arc  pleasantness  and 
all  his  paths  are  peace  ;  for  where  He  keepeth  the  house, 
who  is  Prince  of  peace,  He  will  keep  all  in  his  heavenly 
peace.  We  are  but  as  one  family,  and  therefore  we  have 
but  one  Lord  and  Master.  We  are  but  as  one  Hock,  and 
we  have  but  one  heavenly  Shepherd  to  hear,  who  goeth 
before  us,  and  giveth  us  eternal  life  to  follow  Him.  If 
any  are  oifended  in  Him  or  in  his,  it  is  their  own  fault ; 
if  they  faint  and  grow  weary,  we  are  truly  sorry  ;  if 
through  unwatchfulness  the  enemy  hath  entered,  begotten 
coldness  to  the  brethren*  and  carelessness  of  embracing 
the  opportunities  by  which  the  unity  is  renewed  and  in 
creased,  so  th^t  what  is  done  by  the  brethren  without 
them  is  looked  upon,  first  with  a  slight  eye  and  then 
with  an  evil  eye,  which  begets  distance,  and  this  distance 
in  time  a  separation,  and  separation  continued  bringeth 
forth  enmity,  and  this  enmity  death  itself,  we  are  in  our 
spirits  truly  grieved  for  them.  However,  the  judgment 
of  God  must  stand  against  them,  and  that  spirit  that 
leadcth  them,  in  which  they  gather  not  to  God  but  to 
themselves. 

"  Enter  not  into  disputes  and  contests  with  it ;  it  is  that 
it  seeketh  and  loveth  ;  but  go  on  in  your  testimony  and 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  189 

business  fo-..1  the  Lord,  in  the  Lord's  peaceable  power  and 
spirit,  and  his  blessings  and  presence  of  life  shall  be  with 
you.  We  can  say  it  of  a  truth,  '  God  is  good  to  Israel 
and  to  all  that  are  of  an  upright  heart.' 

"  Your  faithful  friend  and  brother  in  the  service  of  our 
dear  Lord, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

We  arrived  at  Embden,  the  city  where  Friends  have 
been  so  bitterly  and  barbarously  used — the  like  hath 
scarcely  been  known  in  any  place  where  Truth  hath 
broken  forth  in  our  day,  they  having  here  been  banished 
some  thirty,  and  some  forty  times  and  above. 

As  I  was  writing  to  Doctor  Andrews,  President  of  the 
Council  of  State,  who  is  reported  to  have  been  the  author 
of  this  cruelty  to  our  friends,  a  burden  came  upon  me ; 
my  writing  would  not  serve  the  turn,  I  must  go  myself, 
and  in  the  fear  and  name  of  the  Lord  plead  the  innocent 
and  suffering  cause  of  our  friends  with  him.  So  away 
we  went  to  his  house.  lie  was  at  first  astonished  to  see 
what  manner  of  men  we  were,  but  after  a  little  time  he 
comported  himself  with  more  kindness  than  we  expected 
at  his  hand.  I  asked  him  if  he  and  the  Senate  had  not 
received  a  letter  in  Latin  from  an  Englishman  about  two 
years  since  concerning  their  severity  towards  the  people 
called  Quakers.  He  told  me  he  had.  I  replied  I  was  the 
man,  and  I  was  constrained  in  conscience  to  visit  him  on 
their  behalf,  and  I  could  not  see  how  he,  being  a  com- 
monwealthsman  and  a  Protestant,  could  persecute. 

I  pleaded  the  un naturalness,  the  unchristianity,  and 
imprudence  of  such  proceedings,  and  pressed  our  reasons 


J90  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

earnestly,  but  tenderly  upon  him.  He  promised  me  thatv 
if  I  would  write  to  the  Senate  a  remonstrance  of  the 
case  of  our  friends,  he  would  'both  present  it  and  get  it  to 
be  read,  and  make  it  appear  that  he  was  not  so  much  our 
enemy  as  we  looked  upon  him  to  be. 

We  took  wagon  for  Bremen,  where  we  came  safely, 
through  the  Lord's  goodness,  on  the  18th.  In  this  city 
there  is  a  work  of  the  Lord  begun,  though  yet  obscurely. 
We  had  a  travail  upon  our  spirits  that  the  blessed  and 
precious  Truth  of  our  dear  Lord  and  Master  might  find 
a  place  to  rest  its  foot  upon. 

At  the  inn  we  had  frequent  opportunity  to  declare  the 
way  of  Truth,  and  we  must  needs  say  we  were  heard  with 
patience  and  sobriety.  We  left  books  amongst  them  all, 
and  in  the  love  and  fear  of  God  we  took  our  leave  of  them, 
and  .begun  our  journey  towards  Herwerden,  the  court 
of  the  Princess,  where  we  arrived  every  way  well  through 
the  mercies  of  the  Lord.  We  went  to  visit  her,  and  found 
both  her  and  the  Countess  ready  to  receive  us,  which  they 
did  with  much  love  and  tenderness.  The  house  being 
clear  of  strangers,  they  both  earnestly  prest  us  to  sup 
with  them,  which,  being  not  well  able  to  decline,  we  sub 
mitted  to. 

At  supper  the  power  of  the  Lord  came  upon  me,  and  it 
was  a  true  supper  to  us,  for  the  hidden  manna  was  mani 
fested  and  broken  amongst  us,  yea,  a  blessed  meeting  it 
proved  to  us.  0,  the  reverent  tenderness  and  lowly  frame 
of  spirit  that  appeared  this  evening  both  in  the  Princess 
and  Countess !  The  Frenchwoman  we  found  greatly  im 
proved,  both  in  her  love  and  understanding,  yea,  she  was 
very  zealous  and  very  broken,  and  was  always  with  u,f$  on 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXN.  191 

these  occasions.  At  parting,  I  desired  the  Princess  would 
give  us  such  another  opportunity  next  day,  being  the  First 
day  of  the  week,  as  we  had  the  last  time  we  were  with 
her.  She  answered  me,  "  With  all  my  heart ;  but  will  ye 
not  come  in  the  morning  too  ?  " 

About  seven  o'clock  the  next  morning  we  came.  About 
eight  the  meeting  began,  and  held  till  eleven  ;  several  per 
sons  of  the  city,  as  well  as  those  of  her  own  family,  being 
present.  After  the  people  were  gone  out  of  the  chamber, 
it  lay  upon  me  from  the  Lord  to  speak  to  them  two,  the 
Princess  and  the  Countess,  with  respect  to  their  par 
ticular  conditions,  occasioned  by  these  words  from  the 
Princess,  "  I  am  fully  convinced ;  but,  oh,  my  sins  are 
great !  " 

Whilst  I  was  speaking,  the  glorious  power  of  the  Lord 
wonderfully  rose,  yea,  after  an  awful  manner,  and  had  a 
deep  entrance  upon  their  spirits,  especially  the  Countess's, 
so  that  she  was  broken  to  pieces.  God  hath  raised,  and 
1  hope  fixed,  his  own  testimony  in  thorn. 

We  returned  to  our  inn,  and  after  dinner  we  came  back 
to  the  second  meeting  on  that  day ;  and,  truly,  the  rever 
ent,  blessed,  sure  word  of  life  was  divided  aright,  and  a 
precious  sense  of  Truth  was  raised  in  the  meeting. 

Xext  morning  about  eight  o'clock  we  returned  to  the 
court,  where  the  Princess  and  Countess  were-  ready  to 
receive  us.  The  morning  was  employed  in  a  very  serious 
relation,  concerning  the  affairs,  practice,  and  sufferings  of 
our  friends  in  England,  with  which  they  seemed  greatly 
affected,  when,  about  the  eleventh  hour,  the  rattling  of  a 
coach  interrupted  us.  The  Countess  immediately  stepped 
out  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  returned  with  a 


192  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

countenance  somewhat  uneasy,  telling  us  that  the  young 
princes,  nephews  to  the  Princess,  and  the  Graef  of  Donau 
were  come  to  visit  her.  Upon  which  I  told  them  we 
should  withdraw  and  return  to  our  lodging  ;  but  entreated 
that,  forasmuch  as  we  were  to  depart  that  night  with  the 
post-wagon,  we  might  not  be  disappointed  of  a  farewell 
meeting  with  them  ;  and  the  rather,  for  that  I  had  a  great 
burden  upon  my  spirit ;  which  they  readily  complied  with, 
telling  me  these  persons  would  only  dine  and  be  gone. 
As  we  went  to  the  door,  the  Countess  stepped  before  us, 
and  opened  it  for  us ;  and  as  I  passed  by  she  looked  upon 
me  with  a  weighty  countenance,  and  fetched  a  deep  sigh, 
crying  out,  "  0,  the  cumber  and  entanglements  of  this 
vain  world !  they  hinder  all  good."  Upon  which  I  re 
plied,  looking  her  steadfastly  in  the  face,  "  0,  come  thou 
out  of  them  then  !  " 

After  we  had  dined  at  our  lodging,  came  the  steward 
of  the  house  of  the  Princess  with  the  message  that  the 
Graef  of  Donau  had  a  great  desire  to  see  us  and  to  speak 
with  us.  This  brought  a  fresh  weight  and  exercise  upon 
us ;  but,  committing  all  to  the  Lord,  and  casting  our  care 
upon  Him,  we  went. 

Being  arrived,  the  Graef  approached  us  in  French.  At 
first  he  took  no  great  notice  of  our  unceremonious  beha 
vior,  but  proceeded  to  inquire  of  our  success  in  our  jour 
ney,  and  what  we  found  answering  our  jouiney  and  in 
clinations.  Then  we  fell  to  points  of  religion,  and  the 
nature  and  end  of  true  Christianity,  and  what  is  the  way 
that  leadeth  to  the  eternal  rest.  After  some  short  debate 
about  complete  sanctification  in  this  life,  we  both  agreed 
that  self-denial,  mortification,  and  victory  was  the  duty, 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  193 

and  therefore  ought  to  be  the  endeavor,  of  every  sincere 
Christian. 

From  this  I  fell  to  give  him  some  account  of  my  re 
treat  from  the  world,  and  the  inducements  I  had  thereto, 
and  the  necessity  of  an  inward  work,  with  which  he 
seemed  much  pleased.  After  this  he  fell  to  the  hat,  etc. 
The  Lord  enabled  me  to  open  the  thing  to  him,  as  that  it 
was  no  plant  of  God's  planting-,  but  a  weed  of  degeneracy 
and  apostasy,  a  carnal  and  earthly  honor,  the  effect,  feeder, 
and  pleaser  of  pride  and  of  a  vain  mind,  and  that  no  ad 
vantage  redounded  to  mankind  by  it ;  and  how  could  they, 
who  ought  to  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God,  use  that  vain 
and  unprofitable  custom,  which  cannot  be  done  to  the 
glory  of  God  ?  I  entreated  him  seriously  to  consider 
with  himself  the  rise  and  end  of  it — whence  it  came,  what 
it  pleased,  and  what  that  was  which  was  angry  if  it  had 
it  not. 

I  also  told  him  of  the  sincere  and  serviceable  respect 
which  Truth  .substituteth  in  place  thereof;  and  I  exhorted 
him  to  simplicity  and  poverty  of  spirit ; .  to  be  like  that 
Jesus  whom  he  professed  to  be  his  Saviour,  whose  outside, 
GS  well  as  doctrine,  pleased  not  the  Jews;  and  so  we 
parted.  He  took  his  leave  of  the  Princess,  and  then  of 
us,  with  great  civility. 

After  he  was  gone  we  began  our  farewell  meeting.  The 
thing  lay  weighty  upon  me,  and  that  in  the  deep  dread  of 
the  Lord  ;  and  magnified  be  the  name  of  the  Lord,  He 
overshadowed  us  with  his  glory.  His  heavenly  breaking, 
dissolving  power  richly  flowed  amongst  us,  and  his  min 
istering  angel  of  life  was  in  the  midst  of  us.  Let  my  sou" 
never  forget  the  divine  sense  that  overwhelmed  all. 
17  N 


194  PASSAGES    FHOM    THE    LIFE 

We  went  to  our  lodging,  cleared  the  house,  exhorted 
the  family,  left  books,  and  then  took  wagon  for  Wesel, 
about  two  hundred  English  miles  from  Ilerwerden.  We 
rode  three  nights  and  days  without  lying  down  on  a  bed 
or  sleeping,  otherwise  than  in  the  wagon,  which  was  only 
covered  with  an  old  ragged  sheet.  The  company  we  had 
with  us  made  twelve  in  number,  which  much  straitened 
us.  They  were  often,  if  not  always,  vain,  even  in  their 
religious  songs,  which  is  the  fashion  of  that  country., 
especially  b}7"  night.  They  call  them  Luther's  songs,  and 
sometimes  psalms.  We  were  forced  often  to  reprove  and 
testify  against  their  hypocrisy.  To  be  full  of  vain  and 
often  profane  talk  one  hour,  and  sing  psalms  to  God  the 
.next,  we  showed  them  the  deceit  and  abomination  of.  We 
passed  through  several  great  towns  by  the  way,  Lipstadt, 
Ham,  etc.  Many  discourses  we  had  of  Truth,  and  the  re 
ligion  and  worship  that  was  truly  Christian,  and  all  was 
very  well.  They  bore  what  we  said.  But  one  thing  was 
remarkable,  that  may  not  be  omitted.  I  had  not  been  six 
hours  in  the  wagon  before  an  heavy  weight 'and  unusual 
oppression  fell  upon  me  ;  yea,  it  weighed  me  almost  to  the 
grave,  that  I  could  almost  say,  my  soul  was  sad  even 
unto  death.  I  knew  not  at  present  the  ground  of  this 
exercise ;  it  remained  about  twenty-four  hours  upon  me. 
Then  it  opened  in  me,  that  it  was  a  travail  for  the  seed 
of  God,  that  it  might  arise  over  all  in  them  I  had  left 
behind,  and  that  nothing  might  be  lost  but  the  son  of 
perdition.  Oh,  the  strong  cries  and  deep  agonies,  many 
tears  and  sincere  bowings  and  humblmgs  of  soul  before 
the  Lord  that  his  holy  sense,  which  was  raised  in  them, 
might  be  preserved  alive  in  them,  and  they  forever  in  it ; 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  195 

that  they  might  grow  and  spread,  as  heavenly  plants  of 
righteousness,  to  the  glory  of  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

The  narrative  from  the  2f  th  of  the  Seventh  month  to 
the  9th  of  the  Eighth  month  inclusive,  is  inserted  in  the 
following  letter  to  the  Countess  of  Homes  : 


"For  Anna  Maria  de  Homes,  styled  Countess  of  Homes, 
at  Hence  rden,  in  Germany. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRTEXD  : — Oh,  that  thou  mayst  forever 
dwell  in  the  sweet  and  tender  sense  of  that  Divine  love 
and  life  which  hath  visited  thy  soul,  affected  and  overcome 
thy  heart.  Oh,  tell  me,  hath  it  not  sometimes  raised  thy 
spirit  above  the  world,  and  filled  thce  with  fervent  and 
passionate  desires,  yea,  holy  resolutions  to  follow  Jesus, 
thy  blessed  Saviour,  who  hath  given  his  most  precious 
blood  for  thce,  that  thou  shoulclst  not  live  to  thyself,  but 
tr  Him  that  hath  so  dearly  purchased  thee  ? 

"  Oh,  the  retired,  humble,  reverent  frame  I  have  beheld 
thce  in,  when  this  blessed  life  hath  drawn  thce  into  itself, 
and  adorned  arid  seasoned  thce  with  its  own  heavenly  vir 
tue.  Oh,  that  this  holy  and  chaste  life  may  be  always  pre 
cious  with  thce,  and  that  thou  mayst  be  forever  chastely 
kept  in  the  love  and  fellowship  of  it. 

"  My  dear  beloved  friend,  be  steadfast, '  immovable, 
without  wavering,  and  work  out  thy  great  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling,  and  lose  not  that  sweet  and  precious 
sense  which  the  Lord  hath  begotten  in  thce.  It  is  soon 
lost,  at  least  weakened,  but  hard  to  recover.  Wherefore, 
let  not  the  spirit  of  the  world  in  any  of  its  appearances, 
vain  company,  unnecessary  discourse  or  words,  or  worldly 
affairs  prevail  upon  the  civility  of  thy  nature,  for  they 


196  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

will  oppress  the  innocent  life  and  bring  grievous  weights 
and  burdens  upon  thy  soul,  and  prolong  the  coming  of  the 
Lord,  whom  thou  lookcst  for,  and  put  the  day  of  thy  re 
demption  afar  off.  Oh,  beware  of  this  compliance.  Let 
me  put  thee  in  mind  of  that  sensible  resolution,  so  fre 
quently  and  so  passionately  repeated  by  thee  :  'II  faut  quo 
je  rompc.  II  faut  quc  je  rompe.'  Ah,  this  speaketh  a 
weight,  this  weight  a  sense,  and  this  sense  a  strong  con 
viction.  Nowr,  be  assured,  that  till  obedience  be  yielded 
to  that  present  manifestation  and  conviction,  the  good 
things  desired  and  thirsted  after  can  never  be  enjoyed. 

"  Wherefore,  my  dear  friend,  be  faithful,  and  watch 
against  the  workings  of  the  spirit  of  this  world  in  thyself, 
that  the  nature  and  image  of  it  in  all  things  may  be  cruci 
fied,  that  thou  mayst  know  an  entire  translation,  with 
holy  Enoch,  and  walk  with  God.  Jesus,  the  holy  Light, 
is  this  power  of  God  that  killeth  and  maketh  alive  ;  and  He 
is  the  heavenly  vine,  too  ;  if  thou  abidest  in  Him  thou  wilt 
bring  forth  fruit ;  but  if  thou  abidest  not  in  Him,  thou  wilt 
not  bring  forth  that  fruit  in  which  his  heavenly  Father 
only  can  be  glorified. 

"Once  more  let  me  expostulate  with  thee.  Wouldst 
thou  overcome  the  enemies  of  thy  soul's  peace,,  and  enjoy 
the  delightful  presence  of  the  Lord  with  thee  ?  Then 
keep  nothing  back  ;  let  nothing  be  withheld  that  He  calleth 
for.  0  blessed  are  they  that  make  no  bargains  for  them 
selves  ;  that  have  no  reserves  for  self,  neither  consult  with 
flesh  and  blood ;  but  that  submit  their  wills  in  all  things 
to  the  Lord's,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  through 
Bufferings. 

"  At  Dusseldorf  we  sent  for  N ,  who  came  to  us, 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  197 

and  three  more  in  company.  We  had  a  blessed  meeting1 
with  them,  and  with  one  of  the  three  that  came  with  him 
our  souls  were  exceedingly  affected. 

"  The  meeting  done,  they  went  away,  but  N—  -  re 
turned.  The  young  man  hath  a  zeal  for  God,  and  there 
is  a  visitation  upon  him ;  my  soul  desireth  that  it  may  not 
be  ineffectual ;  but  I  have  a  great  fear  upon  me.  For  this 
I  know  certainly  from  the  Lord  God  that  liveth  for  ever, 
and  I  have  a  cloud  of  witnesses  to  my  brethren,  that  re 
tirement  and  silence  before  God  is  the  alone  way  for  him 
to  fuel  the  heavenly  gift  to  arise,  and  come  forth  pure  and 
unmixed.  This  only  can  aright  preach  for  God,  pray  to 
God,  and  beget  people  to  God,  and  nothing  else.  But 
alas !  his  office  in  that  family  is  quite  another  thing ; 
namely,  to  perform  set  duties  at  fixed  times  ;  pray,  preach, 
and  sing,  and  that  in  the  way  of  the  world's  appointments. 
His  very  office  is  Babylonish,  namely,  a  chaplain ;  for  it 
is  a  popish  invention. 

"  In  the  good  old  times,  godly  Abraham  who  was  a 
prince,  and  Joshua  a  great  general,  and  David  a  king, 
with  many  more,  instructed  their  families  in  the  knowl 
edge  and  fear  of  God ;  but  now  people  are  too  idle  or  too 
great  to  pray  for  themselves,  and  so  they  worship  God  by 
proxy.  How  can  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  be  at  the  beck 
of  any  mortal  living,  or  give  his  soul  and  conscience  to 
the  time  and  appointment  of  another  ?  The  thing  in  it 
self  is  utterly  wrong,  and  against  the  very  nature  and 
worship  of  the  new  and  everlasting  covenant.  And  I 
have  a  deep  sense  upon  my  soul,  that  if  the  young  man 
strive  beyond  the  talent  God  hath  given  him,  to  answer 
his  office  and  fill  up  his  place,  and  wait  not  for  the  pure 


198  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

and  living  word  of  God  in  bis  heart  to  open  his  mouth, 
but  either  studieth  for  his  sermons,  or  speaketh  his  own 
words,  he  will  be  utterly  ruined. 

"Wherefore,  dear  friend,  have  a  care  thou  art  no  snare 
to  him,  nor  he  to  the3 !  Man's  works  smother  and  stifle  the 
true  life  of  Christ.  What  have  you  now  to  do,  but  to  look 
to  Jesus,  the  author  of  the  holy  desires  that  are  in  you,  who 
himself  hath  visited  you.  Tempt  not  the  Lord,  provoke 
not  God.  What  should  any  man  preach  from,  but  Christ  ? 
And  what  should  he  preach  people  to,  but  Christ  in  them, 
the  hope  of  glory  ?  Consider,  nothing-  feedcth  that  which 
is  born  of  God,  but  that  which  cometh  down  from  God, 
even  the  bread  of  God,  which  is  the  Son  of  God,  who 
giveth  his  life  for  the  world.  Feel  it,  and  feed  on  it ;  let 
none  mock  God,  or  grieve  his  Eternal  Spirit,  who  is  come 
to  seal  them  up  from  the  mouth  of  man,  wrho  hath  de 
ceived  them,  that  Jesus  the  anointing  may  teach  them 
and  abide  wTith  them  forever. 

"  Be  steadfast  and  immovable ;  and  this  will  draw  the 
young  man  nearer  to  the  Lord,  and  empty  him  of  him 
self,  and  purge  away  mixtures ;  and  then  you  will  all 
come  to  the  Divine  silence.  And  when  all  flesh  is  silent 
before  the  Lord,  then  is  it  the  Lord's  time  to  speak,  and 
if  you  will  hear,  your  souls  shall  live. 

"  The  Lord  Jesus  be  with  thy  spirit,  and  keep  thcc  in  this 
the  hour  of  thy  temptation,  that  thou  mayst  come  forth 
as  gold  seven  times  tried ;  so  shall  thy  testimony  shine 
for  the  God  that  hath  called  thce,  and  He  will  reward  thee 
with  honor,  glory,  and  eternal  life.  Amen. 

"  Thy  friend,  that  faithfully  travaileth  for  thy  redemption, 

WILLIAM  PENN. 

"AMSTERDAM,  the  19th  of  the  Eighth  month,  1677." 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  109 

[Returning  home  from  Germany,  he  says :]  I  went  to 
Worniinghurst,  my  house  in  Sussex,  where  I  found  my 
dear  wife,  child,  and  family  all  well :  blessed  bo  the  name 
of  the  Lord  God  of  all  the  families  of  the  earth.  I  had 
that  evening-  a  sweet  meeting  amongst  them ;  in  which 
God's  blessed  power  made  us  truly  glad  together ;  and  I 
can-sav,  truly  blessed  are  they  who  cheerfully  give  up  to 
serve  the  Lord :  great  shall  be  the  increase  and  growth 
of  their  treasure,  which  shall  never  end. 

The  narrative  of  this  journey,  and  of  the  interesting 
interviews  he  had  with  many  persons  eminent  for  their 
talents,  learning,  or  social  position,  is  almost  the  only 
autobiography  which  William  Penn  has  left.  The  fore 
going  extracts  from  it  furnish  only  a  partial  view  of  the 
industry  and  fervor  with  which  he  prosecuted  his  religious 
services.  This  extensive  journey  was  accomplished  in 
about  three  months,  during  which  time,  in  addition  to 
the  numerous  religious  meetings  and  conferences  which 
he  held,  and  the  distances  traversed,  sometimes  on  foot, 
at  others  in  the  tardy  conveyances  of  that  day,  his  letters 
and  epistles  occupy  about  sixty-five  folio  pages  in  his 
printed  works.  Yet,  at  a  subsequent  period  of  his  life, 
he  expressed  a  belief  that  if  he  had  then  had  his  time  to  live 
over  again,  he  could  with  God's  grace,  not  only  serve  Him, 
but  his  neighbor  and  himself,  better  than  he  had  done, 
and  have  seven  years  to  spare.  If  we  are  to  consider  the 
portion  of  his  life  which  he  has  so  minutely  described  as 
a  specimen  of  the  rest,  it  is  not  easy  to  perceive  out  of 
what  portion  of  it  these  seven  years  could  have  been  ob 
tained, 


200  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 


IX. 

SOME  very  severe  laws  had  been  enacted  against 
the  Roman  Catholics  by  the  British  Parliament  in 
1582 ;  one  of  v/hich  imposed  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds  a 
month  for  absence  from  the  parish  churches  on  the  days 
appointed  for  Divine  worship,  and  another  passed  shortly 
after  the  discovery  of  the  gunpowder  treason,  in  1005, 
made  it  optional  with  the  king  whether  he  should  exact 
twenty  pounds  a  month,  or  all  the  personal  and  two- 
thirds  of  the  real  estate  of  the  offender.  The  persecutors 
of  Friends  foiling  in  their  efforts  to  repress  the  rising  So 
ciety  by  the  cruel  measures  they  had  heretofore  taken,  had 
recourse  to  these  laws,  which  answered  the  double  purpose 
of  grievously  oppressing  Friends  and  putting  money,  into 
the  pockets  of  their  oppressors. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  16*78,  Parliament  having 
the  laws  against  popery  under  consideration,  a  proposal 
was  made  to  insert  a  clause  in  the  bill  in  favor  of  those 
who  should  take  an  oath  and  subscribe  a  declaration  of 
a  prescribed  form.  As  the  conditions  upon  which  this 
distinguishing  clause  was  to  be  rendered  available,  could 
not  be  complied  with  by  Friends,  it  was  concluded  to 
make  a  representation  of  their  case  to  the  two  houses  of 
Parliament.  One  was  accordingly  prepared,  drawn  up 
probably  by  William  Penn,  in  which  the  hardships  they 
had  endured  by  the  operation  of  laws  which  were  not 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  201 

intended  to  apply  to  them  or  to  persons  of  their  charac 
ters,  were  briefly  yet  forcibly  stated.  Their  inability  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  proffered  distinction,  was  shown 
to  arise  from  their  conscientious  objection  to  oaths,  and 
not  from  an  unwillingness  to  subscribe  the  required  dec 
laration  if  reduced  to  an  unexceptionable  form.  They 
therefore  requested  that  their  word  might  be  admitted  in 
stead  of  the  oath,  with  the  condition  annexed,  that  in 
case  of  violating  it,  they  should  suffer  the  penalties  of 
perjury. 

On  the  22d  of  the  First  month,  William  Penn  was  ad 
mitted  before  a  committee  of  Parliament,  and  in  the  course 
of  his  address,  said: 

"  That  which  giveth  me  a  more  than  ordinary  right  to 
speak  at  this  time  and  in  this  place,  is  the  great  abuse  that 
I  have  received  above  any  other  of  my  profession ;  for  of 
a  long  time  I  have  not  only  been  supposed  a  Papist,  but 
a  Seminary,  a  Jesuit,  an  emissary  of  Rome,  and  in  pay 
from  the  pope,  a  man  dedicating  my  endeavors  to  the  in 
terest  and  advancement  of  that  party.  Nor  hath  this 
been  the  report  of  the  rabble,  but  the  jealousy  and  insin 
uation  of  persons  otherwise  sober  and  discreet.  Nay, 
some  zealous  for  the  Protestant  religion  have  been  so  far 
gone  in  this  mistake,  as  not  only  to  think  ill  of  us  and  to 
decline  our  conversation,  but  to  take  courage  to  themselves 
to  prosecute  us  for  a  sort  of  concealed  Papists ;  and  the 
truth  is,  what  with  one  thing,  and  what  with  another,  we 
have  been  as  the  wool-sacks  and  common  whipping-stock 
of  the  kingdom.  All  laws  have  been  let  loose  upon  us, 
as  if  the  design  were  not  to  reform,  but  to  destroy  us,  and 
that  not  for  what  we  are,  but  for  what  we  are  not  It  is 


202  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

hard  that  we  must  thus  bear  the  stripes  of  another  interest, 
and  be  their  proxy  in  punishment ;  but  it  is  worse  that  some 
men  can  please  themselves  in  such  a  sort  of  administra 
tion. 

"  I  would  not  be  mistaken.  I  am  far  from  thinking  it 
fit  that  Papists  should  be  whipped  for  their  consciences, 
because  I  exclaim  against  the  injustice  of  whipping  Quak 
ers  for  Papists.  No,  for  though  the  hand  pretended  to  be 
lifted  up  against  them  hath,  I  know  not  by  what  discre 
tion,  lit  heavily  upon  us,  and  we  complain,  yet  we  do  not 
mean  that  any  should  take  a  fresh  aim  at  them,  or  that 
they  must  come  in  our  room.  We  must  give  the  lib 
erty  we  ask,  and  cannot  be  false  to  our  principles,  though 
it  were  to  relieve  ourselves,  for  we  have  good-will  to  all 
men,  and  would  have  none  suffer  for  a  truly  sober  and 
conscientious  dissent  on  any  hand." 

He  subsequently  made  to  this  committee  a  second 
speech,  of  which  we  give  a  part :  • 

"  I  was  bred  a  Protestant,  and  that  strictly,  too.  I  lost 
nothing  by  time  or  study ;  for  years,  reading,  travel,  and 
observation  made  the  religion  of  my  educati6n  the  religion 
of  my  judgment.  I  do  tell  you  again,  and  here  solemnly 
declare  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  and  before  you 
all,  that  the  profession  I  now  make,  and  the  society  I  now 
adhere  to,  have  been  so  far  from  altering  that  Protestant 
judgment  I  had,  that  I  am  not  conscious  to  myself  of 
having  receded  from  an  iota  of  any  one  principle  main 
tained  by  those  first  Protestants  and  reformers  of  Ger 
many,  and  our  own  martyrs  at  home,  against  the  pope 
and  see  of  K-ome. 

"  On  the  contrary,  1  do  with  great  truth  assure  you 


or  WILLIAM  PEXX.  203 

that  we  arc  of  the  same  negative  faith  with  the  ancient 
Protestant  church,  and  upon  occasion  shall  be  ready,  by 
God's  assistance,  to  make  it  appear  that  we  are  of  the  same 
belief  as  to  the  most  fundamental,  positive  articles  of  her 
creed,  too.  And  therefore  it  is  we  think  it  hard,  that  though 
we  deny  in  common  with  her  those  doctrines  of  Home  so 
zealously  protested  against  (from  whence  the  name  Protes 
tants  i,  yet  that  we  should  be  so  unhappy  as  to  suffer,  and 
that  with  extreme  severity,  by  those  very  laws  on  purpose 
made  against  the  maintaincrs  of  those  doctrines  we  do  so 
deny.  We  choose  no  suffering,  for  God  knows  what  we 
have  already  suffered,  and  how  many  sufficient  and  trading 
families  are  reduced  to  great  poverty  by  it.  We  think 
ourselves  a  useful  people.  We  are  sure  we  are  a  peaceable 
people ;  yet  if  we  must  still  suffer,  let  us  not  suffer  as 
Popish  recusants,  but  as  Protestant  dissenters. 

"But  I  would  obviate  another  objection,  and  that  none 
of  the  least  that  hath  been  made  against  us,  viz.,  that  we 
arc  enemies  to  government  in  general,  and  particularly 
disaffected  to  this  we  live  under.  I  think  it  not  amiss, 
but  very  seasonable,  yea,  my  duty  now  to  declare  to  you, 
atid  that  I  do  with  good  conscience  in  the  sight  of  Al 
mighty  God,  first,  that  we  believe  government  to  be  God's 
ordinance,  and  next,  that  this  present  government  is  es 
tablished  by  the  providence  of  God  and  law  of  the  land, 
and  that  it  is  our  Christian  duty  readily  to  obey  it  in  all 
its  just  laws:  and  wherein  we  cannot  comply  through  ten 
derness  of  conscience,  in  all  such  cases  not  to  revile  or  con 
spire  against  the  government,  but  with  Christian  humility 
and  patience  tire  out  all  mistakes  about  us,  and  wait  their 
better  inforu  ation,  who,  we  believe,  do  as  undeservedly 


204  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

as  severely  treat  us;  and  I  know  not  what  greater  securby 
can  be  given  by  any  people,  or  how  any  government  can 
be  easier  from  the  subjects  of  it." 

This  application  was  so  far  successful  that  the  committee 
inserted,  in  the  bill  then  depending  before  them,  a  clause 
granting  relief  in  the  case,  which  passed  the  House  of 
Commons ;  but  before  it  had  passed  the  House  of  Lords, 
tb-3  Parliament  was  suddenly  prorogued,  and  the  bill  lost. 

The  people  of  England  were  about  this  time  thrown 
into  great  consternation  by  the  pretended  disclosures  of 
Titus  Gates  and  others  in  regard  to  a  Popish  plot.  How 
ever  destitute  of  truth  those  disclosures  and  the  rumors  to 
which  they  gave  birth  must  now  appear,  they  were  prob 
ably  considered  at  that  time,  by  the  generality  of  the 
people,  as  having  at  least  some  foundation  in  truth. 

To  prevent  his  friends  in  religious  profession  from  being 
drawn  into  the  popular  excitement,  and  from  their  accus 
tomed  reliance  on  Divine  protection,  William  Penn  wrote 
an  epistle,  directed  to  "'the  children  of  light  in  this  gener 
ation." 

He  earnestly  exhorted  them  to  flee  from  the  spirit  and 
cares  of  the  world  to  their  watch-tower,  which  is  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  A  living,  spiritual  name,  a  strong 
tower,  a  peaceable  habitation,  where  they  should  rest  in 
safety  while  darkness  and  confusion  prevailed  in  the 
world.  He  particularly  cautioned  them  against  mingling 
with  the  crowd,  lest  they  should  imbibe  the  spirit  of  the 
world  instead  of  diffusing  their  spirit  into  the  people. 
"They,"  said  he,  "must  come  to  us,  we  must  not  go  to 
them.  Yet  we  cannot  be  insensible  of  their  infirmities, 
as  well  as  we  shall  not  be  free  from  some  of  their  suffer- 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  205 

Ings.  We  must  make  their  case  as  our  own,  and  travail 
alike  in  spirit  for  them  as  for  ourselves.  Let  us  stand  in 
the  counsel  of  our  God,  and  He  will  make  us  preachers  to 
them  of  the  work  of  his  divine  power,  and  the  virtue  of 
that  faith  which  comes  from  heaven  ;  that  they  may  come 
to  know  the  holy  law  and  word  of  the  Lord  in  their  hearts, 
and  have  their  minds  turned  to  Him  and  stayed  upon  Him, 
that  iniquity  may  no  more  abound,  nor  ungodliness  find  a 
place.  But  that  in  truth,  righteousness,  and  peace  they 
may  be  established,  and  the  land  keep  its  sabbath  to  the 
Lord  forever." 

In  the  year  16T9,  as  the  nation  was  still  in  commotion, 
and  great  apprehensions  were  entertained  of  designs  being 
on  foot  for  the  subversion  of  the  Protestant  religion  and 
the  introduction  of  Popery,  he  wrote  and  published  an 
"ADDRESS  TO  PROTESTANTS,"  in  which  he  exposed  the 
vices  which  prevailed  in  church  and  state,  and  labored 
to  excite  the  people  to  repentance  and  amendment  of  life, 
as  the  most  effectual  means  of  allaying  their  fears  and 
preventing  the  impending  evils. 

Having  expostulated  with  them  on  account  of  the  evils 
which  prevailed  in  civil  society,  he  proceeds  in  the  second 
port  of  his  address  to  treat-  of  those  which  relate  to  the 
ecclesiastical  state  of  those  kingdoms.  In  this  part  five 
capital  evils  are  noted. 

"  First.  Making  opinions  articles  of  faith;  at  least,  giv 
ing  them  the  reputation  of  faith,  and  making  them  the 
bond  of  Christian  society. 

"  Second.  Mistaking  the  nature  of  true  faith,  and  taking 
that  for  faith  which  is  not  gospel  faith. 

"  Third.  Debasing  the  true  value  of  morality  under  the 
.18 


206  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

pretence  of  higher  things,  mistaking  much  of  the  end  of 
Christ's  coming. 

Fourth.  Preferring  human  authority  above  reason  and 
truth. 

Fifth.  Propagating  faith  by  force,  and  imposing  religion 
by  worldly  compulsion. 

Under  the  Jirst  division  he  censures  and  exposes  the 
practice  of  expounding  a  belief  on  religious  subject?,  in 
terms  which  are  neither  scriptural  nor  fairly  dcducible 
from  the  Scriptures  of  Truth,  and  requiring  an  assent  to 
such  exposition  as  the  condition  of  Christian  communion. 
Showing  that  inasmuch  as  the  Scriptures  were  given  by 
Divine  inspiration,  and  holy  men  gave  them  forth  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  language  in  which 
they  were  given  is  to  be  preferred  to  any  exposition  Avhich 
can  be  framed  by  men  who  are  not  endued  with  a  like  in- 
smj-ation. 

Tinder  the  second  head  it  is  stated  that  a  mere  assent  of 
the  understanding  to  the  truth  and  authority  of  the  his 
tory  and  doctrines  of  Scripture,  is  not  that  true  and  living* 
faith  which  is  the  saint's  victory  over  the  world.  But,  as 
defined  by  the  apostle,  faith  "  is  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  "  True  faith 
in  God,"  says  William  Pcnn,  "is  entirely  believing  and 
trusting  in  God,  confiding  in  his  goodness,  resigning  up  to 
his  will,  obeying  his  commands,  and  relying  upon  his  con 
duct  and  mercies,  respecting  this  life  and  that  which  is  to 
come.  This  faith  that  works  by  love,  that  Divine  love  which 
God  places  in  the  heart,  it  draws  and  inclines  man,  and 
gives  him  power  to  forsake  all  that  displeascth  God.  What 
of  the  Christian  dispensation  is  so  peculiar  and  important 


OF    WILLIAM    PENX.  207 

as  to  challenge  of  right  the  name  of  creed  or  faith  ?  I  say, 
then,  that  the  belief  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  be  the  prom 
ised  Messiah,  the  Son  and  Christ  of  God,  come  and  sent 
of  God  to  restore  and  save  mankind  is  the  first,  and  was 
then  the  only  requisite  article  of  faith,  without  any  large 
confessions,  or  an  heap  of  principles  or  opinions  resolved 
upon-  after  curious  and  tedious  debates  by  councils  and 
synods." 

Of  this,  the  testimony  of  the  beloved  disciple  is  ad 
duced  as  one  conclusive  argument.  "  These  things  are 
written  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  and  that  believing  ye  might  have  life  through 
his  name."  This  belief,  it  is  observed,  fully  and  sincerely 
admitted,  necessarily  leads  to  an  assent  to  the  doctrines  of 
Christ,  and  to  the  precepts  which  He  taught.  And  these 
precepts  include  the  moral  and  religious  duty  of  man. 
Hence,  "as  Christ  is  the  rock  on  which  true  Christians 
build,  so  none  can  be  truly  said  to  build  on  this  Rock 
but  those  that  keep  his  sayings,  that  do  his  command 
ments,  that  obey  his  doctrine.  Wherefore  that  faith,  of 
Jesus  to  be  the  Son  and  Christ  of  God,  must  be  such  a 
faith  as  does  the  will  of  the  heavenly  Father,  and  keepeth 
the  sayings  of  Christ. 

"  Those,  therefore,  that  would  obtain  this  precious  faith 
that  overcomes  the  world,  must  embrace  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  which  this  faith  is  begotten  ;  and 
they  who  believe  not  in  this  grace,  nor  receive  it  in  the 
love  of  it,  nor  give  themselves  up  to  be  taught  and  led  by 
it,  can  never  be  said  truly  to  believe  in  Him  from  whom  it 
comes,  any  more  than  the  Jews  may  be  said  to  believe  in 
God,  when  they  rejected  Him  that  came  from  3od,  even 


208  PASSAGES    FEOM    THE    LIFE 

his  beloved  Son.  He  that  denies  the  measure,  can  never 
own  or  receive  the  fulness.  John  bears  record  that  He 
was  full  of  grace  and  truth,  and  that  of  his  fulness  they 
had  all  received,  and  grace  for  grace.  For  the  law  was 
given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus 
Christ.  So  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  a  man  to  be 
lieve  in  Christ  and  not  to  be  taught  and  led  by  the  grace 
that  comes  from  Him  and  by  Him." 

In  concluding  this  division,  he  says:  "I  do  fervently 
beseech  Almighty  God,  the  giver  of  all  saving  faith,  mer 
cifully  to  vouchsafe,  more  and  more,  to  beget  a  serious 
inquiry  in  us,  what  that  faith  is  which  we  have  ?  who  is 
the  author  of  it  ?  and  what  fruits  it  hath  brought  forth  ? 
that  so  we  may  not  profane  the  name  of  God  by  a  vain 
profession  of  it,  nor  abuse  ourselves  unto  eternal  perdition. 
But  that  we  may  endeavor,  by  God's  assistance,  to  approve 
ourselves  such  believers  as  sincerely  fear  God,  love  right 
eousness,  and  hate  every  evil  way,  as  becomes  the  re 
deemed  of  God  by  the  precious  blood  of  his  Son.  Since, 
therefore,  we  are  not  our  own,  but  the  Lord's,  who  hath 
bought  us  with  that  great  price,  let  us  glorify  Him  in  our 
bodies,  in  our  souls,  and  in  our  spirits,  which  are  his. 
Then  shall  we  be  children  of  Abraham  indeed,  heirs  of 
the  promises,  partakers  of  that  resurrection  and  life,  that 
immortality  and  glory  which  God,  the  righteous  Judge, 
will  one  day  plentifully  distribute  to  them  that  abide  in 
this  precious  faith  unto  the  end." 

Under  the^thirdjiead  he  defines  his  mp_ral_man  to  be  one 
that  does  to  allmen  as  he  would  have  all  men  to  do  to 
him,  and  from  this  he  argues  that  Christian  morality  is 
the  fruit  of  a  sound  practical  belief  in  Christ,  and  in  the 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  209 

doctrines  which  He  taught.     In  regard  to  the  end  and 
design  of  Christ's  coming  into  the  world,  it  is  laid  down 
that  He  came  to  save   his  people  from  their  sins ;    not    'i 
merely  to  take  away  the  guilt  by  his  propitiatory  sacrifice    ; 
on  the  cross,  but  to  redeem  from  the  nature  of  sin  by  the   • 
power  of  his  Spirit,  and  to  establish  an  actual  righteousness. 

Under  the  fourth  head  is  noticed  the  great  power  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  people's  reliance  upon  them  for  the  knowl 
edge  of  religion  and  the  way  of  life  and  salvation.  The 
clergy  were  thus  become  a  sort  of  mediators  between 
Christ  and  the  people.  This  implicit  faith  and  blind  \ 
obedience  to  the  opinions  of  others,  is  noted  as  a  species 
of  popery  which  Protestants  are  particularly  required  to 
examine  and  avoid. 

The  author  declares  that  every  Christian  ought  to  be 
lieve  as  the  church  believes,  provided  the  church  is  right. 
But  the  church  is  denned  to  be  a  congregation  or  company 
of  people  agreed  together  in  the  sincere  profession  and 
obedience  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  rule  then  which 
they  jointly  have  for  their  belief,  is  the  rule  of  each  indi 
vidual.  Now  the  great  foundation  of  the  Protestant  re 
ligion,  is  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures  without 
us,  and  the  testimony  and  illumination  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
within  us.  Upon  this  ground  the  first  reformers  made 
and  supported  their  separation  from  the  Church  of  Rome. 
Hence  Protestant  writers  agree  that  neither  traditions, 
councils,  nor  canons  of  any  visible  church,  much  less  the 
edicts  of  any  civil  jurisdiction,  but  the  Scriptures  only, 
interpreted  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  us,  give  the  final  de 
termination  in  matters  of  religion,  and  that  only  in  the 
conscience  of  every  Christian  to  himself. 
IS*  O 


210  PASSAGES    FEOM    THE    LIFE 

Under  the  last  head  our  author  notices,  with  just  dis 
approbation,  the  persecutions  on  account  of  dissent  from 
the  national  mode  of  worship  which  prevailed  in  the  days 
of  Elizabeth  and  her  two  immediate  successors,  and  more 
particularly  those  of  their  own  times,  in  which  many  fami 
lies  had  been  reduced  to  poverty — not  a  bed  left  in  the 
house,  not  a  cow  in  the  field,  nor  any  grain  in  the  barn. 
Widows  and  orphans  stripped  without  pity,  and  no  regard 
paid  to  age  or  sex.  And  all  this  for  no  offence  except 
peaceably  meeting-  to  worship  God  in  a  manner  different 
from  that  prescribed  by  the  Protestant  authorities  of  the 
day. 

This  address,  which  occupies  about  one  hundred  pages 
in  our  author's  folio  works,  closes  in  the  following  terms : 

"  God  Almighty  open  our  understandings  and  hearts, 
and  pour  out  the  spirit  of  thorough  reformation  upon  us : 
for  it  is  in  the  spirit  and  not  in  the  words  of  reformation 
that  the  life  and  prosperity  of  reformation  stands." 

The  Parliament,  which  had  continued  about  eighteen 
years,  having  been  dissolved  and  writs  issued  for  the 
election  of  a  new  one,  great  excitement  prevailed  among 
the  people,  and  strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  the  opposing 
paties  to  secure  the  ascendency.  On  this  occasion  William 
Penn  addressed  a  communication  to  the  freeholders  and 
electors  of  the  kingdom,  entitled  "England's  great  Interest 
in  the  Choice  of  this  Parliament." 

He  states  the  great  importance  of  choosing  "  wise  men, 
fearing  God  and  hating  covctousness."  "  We  must,"  he 
says,  "  not  make  our  public  choice  the  recompense  of 
private  favors  from  our  neighbors."  "They  should  be 
honest  and  capable ;  men  of  industry  and  improvement  j 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  211 

possessed  of  liberal  principles,  and  sincerely  attached  to 
the  Protestant  religion  ;  for  implicit  faith  and  blind  obedi 
ence  in  religion  will  also  introduce  implicit  faith  and  blind 
obedience  in  government.  So  that  it  is  no  more  the  law 
in  the  one  than,  in  the  other,  but  the  will  and  power  of  the 
superior  that  shall  be  the  rule  and  bond  of  our  subjection! 
This  is  that  fatal  mischief  popery  brings  with  it  to  civil 
society,  and  for  which  such  societies  ought  to  beware  of  it, 
and  all  those  that  are  friends  to  it." 

Besides  communicating  this  address  to  the  electors  he 
used  considerable  efforts  to  procure  the  election  of  his 
friend,  Algernon  Sidney,  whom  he  esteemed  for  his  talents 
and  character.  The  arbitrary  measures  of  the  court,  and 
th«"?  unrelenting  rigor  with  which  dissenters,  both  in  church 
and  state,  were  prosecuted,  appeared  to  demand  the  re 
straining  hand  of  statesmen  of  firm  and  liberal  minds. 
Men  of  that  character  were  those  whom  he  recommended 
to  the  electors  of  England;  and  such  an  one  he  thought 
he  discerned  in  Algernon  Sidney  ;  his  efforts,  however, 
were  not  successful,  and  his  friend  did  not  obtain  a  seat  in 
the  national  legislature,  having  been  defeated  by  unfair 
means,  as  appears  by  a  letter  written  to  him  immediately 
afterwards  by  William  Penn,  in  which  he  says,  "  Thou,  as 
thy  friends,  had  a  conscientious  regard  for  England ;  and 
to  be  put  aside  by  such  base  ways  is  really  a  suffering  for 
righteousness.  Thou  hast  embarked  thyself  with  them 
that  seek  and  love  and  choose  the  best  things  ;  and  number 
is  not  weight  with  thee.  I  hope  it  is  retrievable ;  for  to 
me  it  looks  not  a  fair  and  clear  election."  The  efforts  01 
William  Pcnn  to  promote  his  election  may  be  considered 
as  a  complete  refutation  of  the  charge,  so  frequently  and 


212  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

recklessly  advanced,  of  his  subserviency  to  the  interests  of 
popery  and  arbitrary  power.  For  Sidney  was  a  man  of 
liberal,  if  not  republican,  principles,  and  fell,  a  few  years 
afterwards,  a  sacrifice  to  the  jealousy  of  the  dominant 
party. 

The  elections  having  taken  place,  and  the  Parliament 
having  at  length  been  returned,  William  Penn  published 
a  book  which  he  addressed  to  it  under  the  title  of  "  One 
Project  for  the  Good  of  England — that  is,  Our  Civil  Union 
is  our  Civil  Safety."  He  maintained  that  all  English 
Protestants,  whether  Conformists  or  Non-conformists, 
agreed  in  this,  that  they  owed  allegiance  and  subjection 
to  the  civil  government  of  England  alone ;  whereas  the 
Catholics,  owning  another  temporal  power  as  superior  to 
the  government  they  properly  belonged  to,  made  them 
selves  the  subjects,  not  of  the  government  under  which 
they  were  born,  but  of  the  government  of  the  pope. 
Hence,  whatever  restrictions  the  existing  Parliament 
might  think  it  right  to  put  upon  the  latter,  it  w-as  its  duty 
to  maintain  the  civil  interest  entire,  as  it  related  to  church 
men  and  dissenters  ;  for,  it  being  to  the  advantage  of  both 
that  the  pope  should  have  no  dominion  in  England,  the 
church-Protestant  could  not  injure  the  dissenting  Protest 
ant  without  weakening  and  destroying  his  own  civil 
interest.  Having  discoursed  largely  upon  this  principle, 
he  proposed  as  his  one  project  a  certain  public  declaration 
or  test  by  which  all  Protestant  dissenters  might  be  enabled 
to  show  that  they  were  not  Catholics.  This  declaration, 
which  he  drew  up  himself,  denied  the  pope's  right  to 
depose  any  sovereign,  or  absolve  the  subjects  of  such 
sovereign  from  their  allegiance.  It  denied  him  to  be 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  213 

Christ's  Yicar.  It  denied  a  purgatory  after  death,  tran- 
subs-tantiation  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  the  lawfulness 
and  efficacy  of  prayers  to  saints  and  images.  The  decla 
ration  was  to  be  made  in  all  the  towns  and  parishes  on  a 
certain  day.  Every  abuse  of  this  declaration  was  to  be 
punished.  In  stating  this,  his  project,  however,  he  never 
spoke  of  the  Catholics  so  as  to  call  in  question  their  re 
ligious  rights.  His  only  object  was  to  show  that  church 
men  and  Protestant  dissenters  having  the  same  civil 
interest  in  the  government  of  England,  the  one  ought  not 
to  oppress  the  other,  and  particularly  for  shades  of  differ 
ence  as  to  their  religious  faith. 


214  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 


X. 

IN  the  year  1675,  William  Penn  was  engaged  in  an  ar 
bitration  between  John  Fenwick  and  Edward  Byllinge, 
two  members  of  his  own  religious  society,  who  had  pur 
chased  of  Lord  Berkeley  his  half  share  of  New  Jersey  in 
North  America.  Having  well  considered  the  case,  he  had 
made  his  award ;  but  Fcnwick  refused  to  abide  by  it. 
This  gave  him  great  uneasiness,  and  produced  from  him 
the  following  friendly  letter  : 

"  JOHN  FENWICK  ! — The  present  difference  betwixt  thee 
and  Edward  Byllingc  fills  the  hearts  of  Friends  with 
grief,  and  with  a  resolution  to  take  it  in  two  days  into 
their  consideration  to  make  a  public  denial  of  the  person 
that  offers  violence  to  the  award  made,  or  that  will  not  end 
it  without  bringing  it  upon  the  public  stage.  God,  the 
righteous  judge,  will  visit  him  that  stands  off.  Edward 
Byllinge  will  refer  the  matter  to  me  again,  if  thou  wilt 
do  the  like.  Send  me  word,  and,  as  opprest  as  I  am  with 
business,  I  will  find  an  afternoon  to-morrow  or  next  day 
to  determine,  and  so  prevent  the  mischief  that  will 
certainly  follow  divulging  it  in  Westminster-hall.  Let 
me  know  by  the  bearer  thy  mind.  0  John !  let  Truth 
and  the  honor  of  it  in  this  day  prevail !  Woe  to  him  that 
causeth  offences !  I  am  an  impartial  man. 

WILLIAM  PENN." 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  215 

This  letter  in  about  ten  days  was  followed  by  a  second, 
in  which  he  could  not  help  rebuking  Fcnwick  on  account 
of  his  conduct,  He  stated,  however,  that  the  original  of 
the  dispute  reflected  upon  both  parties,  and,  what  was 
worse,  upon  Truth,  that  is,  upon  their  religious  profession 
as  Friends. 

In  thirteen  days  he  wrote  another  letter,  as  follows : 

"  Joiix  FEXWICK! — I  have  upon  serious  consideration 
of  the  present  difference  (to  end  it  with  benefit  to  you 
both,  and  as  much  quiet  as  may  be),  thought  rny  counsel's 
opinion  very  reasonable;  indeed,  thy  own  desire  to  have 
the  eight  parts  added,  was  not  so  pleasant  to  the  other 
party  that  it  should  now  be  shrunk  from  by  thee  as  in 
jurious;  and  when  thou  hast  once  thought  a  proposal 
reasonable,  and  given  power  to  another  to  fix  it,  'tis  not 
in  thy  power,  nor  indeed  a  discreet  or  civil  thing,  to  alter 
or  warp  from  it,  and  call  it  being  forced.  0  John !  I  am 
sorry  that  a  toy,  a  trifle,  should  thus  rob  men  of  their 
time,  quiet,  and  a  more  profitable  employ.  I  have  had  a 
good  conscience  in  what  I  have  done  in  this  affair,  and  if 
thou  repcsest  confidence  in  me,  and  believest  me  to  be  a 
good  and  just  man,  as  thou  hast  said,  thou  shouldst  not 
lie  upon  such  nicety  and  uncertainty.  Away  with  vain 
fancies,  I  beseech  thee,  and  fall  closely  to  thy  business. 
Thy  days  spend  on,  and  make  the  best  of  what  thou  hast. 
Thy  grand-children  may  be  in  the  other  world,  before  the 
land  thou  hast  allotted  will  be  employed.  My  counsel,  I 
will  answer  for  it,  shall  do  thee  all  right  and  service  in 
the  affair  that  becomes  him,  who,  I  told  thee  at  first, 


216  PASSAGES    FJROM    THE    LIFE 

should  draw  it  up  as  for  myself.     If  this  cannot  scatter 
thy  fears,  thou  art  unhappy,  and  I  am  sorry. 

"Thy  Friend  WILLIAM  PEXN." 

In  the  year  1G7G,  William  Pcnn  came  accidentally  into 
the  situation  of  a  manager  of  colonial  concerns  in  New 
Jersey  in  North  America,  a  situation  not  only  important 
in  itself,  but  which  produced  the  most  important  results ; 
for,  by  being  concerned  there  he  was  by  degrees  led  to, 
and  fitted  for,  the  formation  of  a  colony  of  his  own.  Lord 
Berkeley,  who  was  joint  proprietor  of  New  Jersey  with 
Sir  George  Cartcret,  had  in  the  preceding  year  sold  his 
half  share  of  it  to  John  Fenwick  in  trust  for  Edward 
Byllinge.  It  was  on  this  subject  that  the  dispute  aro.se 
between  the  latter,  which  William  Pcnn  has  just  been 
mentioned  to  have  arbitrated,  and  which  since  that  time 
he  had  by  means  of  the  most  exemplary  perseverance 
brought  to  an  amicable  issue.  As  soon  as  the  adjust 
ment  took  place,  Fenwick  in  company  with  his  wife  and 
family,  and  several  Quakers,  embarked  for  America  in  the 
ship  Griffith.  They  landed  at  a  "  pleasant  rich  spot  on  the 
Delaware  which  they  called  Salem."  Byllinge,  however, 
who  had  been  drained  of  his  money  by  the  purchase,  and 
who  since  the  sailing  of  Fenwick  had  experienced  mis 
fortune,  found  himself  unable  to  meet  the  pecuniary 
demands  which  were  brought  against  him.  He  agreed, 
therefore,  to  deliver  over  his  new  property  in  trust  for  his 
creditors ;  but  in  consenting  to  do  this,  he  had  his  eye 
fixed  upon  the  friendly  assistance  of  William  Penn.  Tie, 
therefore,  applied  to  the  latter  with  the  most  earnest  en 
treaty  to  become  a  joint  trustee  with  Gawen  Laurie,  of 


OF    WILLIAM    PENtf.  217 

London,  and  Nicholas  Lucas,  of  Hertford,  two  of  the  said 
creditors,  to  carry  his  intention  into  effect.  To  this,  but 
not  till  after  much  consideration,  he  assented. 

His  new  office  requiring  exertion,  and  this  immediately, 
he  was  at  once  overwhelmed  in  business.  The  first  thing 
he  did  in  conjunction  with  the  trustees,  was  to  agree  with 
Sir  George  Carteret  upon  a  division  of  the  province. 
They  allotted  to  the  latter  the  eastern  part  of  it,  which  by 
this  time  was  tolerably  well  peopled ;  and  the  western,  in 
which  no  settlements  had  yet  been  made,  they  took  in  be 
half  of  Byllingc  to  themselves.  From  this  time  the 
former  took  the  name  of  East,  and  the  latter  that  of  West 
Xew  Jersey,  the  dividing  line  running  "  straight  north 
from  Egg  Harbor  to  the  utmost  branch  of  Delaware  River." 

This  division  having  been  made,  they  then  subdivided 
their  own  portion  into  a  hundred  lots.  Ten  of  these  they 
gave  to  Fcnwick  as  a  repayment  for  time,  trouble,  and 
money  advanced  by  him  to  Lord  Berkeley,  and  the  re 
maining  ninety  they  reserved  for  sale,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  creditors  of  Byllinge. 

The  next  step  was  to  form  a  Constitution  for  those  who 
in  consequence  of  purchase  were  to  settle  in  the  new  land. 
This  task,  the  most  difficult,  fell  almost  exclusively  upon 
William  Penn.  He,  therefore,  drew  up  what  he  called 
Concessions,  or  terms  of  grant  and  agreement,  which  were 
to  be  mutually  signed.  The  great  outline,  of  these  may 
be  comprehended  in  few  words.  The  people  were  to  meet 
annually  to  choose  one  honest  man  for  each  proprietary, 
who  had  signed  the  Concessions.  They  who  were  so 
chosen,  were  to  sit  in  assembly.  They  were  to  make, 
alter,  and  repeal  laws.  They  were  also  to  choose  a 
19 


218  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

governor,  or  commissioner,  with  twelve  assistants,  who 
were  to  execute  these  laws,  but  only  during-  their  pleasure. 
Every  man  was  to  be  capable  both  of  choosing-  and  being 
chosen.  No  man  was  to  be  arrested,  imprisoned,  or  con 
demned  in  his  estate  or  liberty,  but  by  twelve  men  of  the 
neighborhood.  No  man  was  to  be  imprisoned  for  debt ; 
but  his  estate  was  to  satisfy  his  creditors  as  far  as  it 
would  go,  and  then  he  was  to  be  set  at  liberty  to  work 
again  for  himself  and  family.  No  man  was  to  be  in 
terrupted  or  molested  on  account  of  the  exercise  of  his 
religion.  Such  was  the  simple  outline  of  the  Concessions, 
"by  an  adherence  to  which  he  hoped  that  he  had  laid  a, 
foundation  for  those  in  after  ages  to  understand  their 
liberty  both  as  men  and  Christians,  and  by  an  adherence 
to  which  they  could  never  be  brought  into  bondage  but 
by  their  own  consent." 

Having  made  these  and  other  arrangements,  he  and  his 
colleagues  gave  notice  of  the  same,  in  a  public  letter  which 
they  signed,  and  circulated  through  the  kingdom.  Through 
the  medium  of  this,  they  particularly  invited  those  who 
were  of  their  own  religious  society  to  become  the  new 
settlers.  They  cautioned  these,  however,  against  leaving 
their  country  out  of  any  idle  curiosity,  or  rambling  dispo 
sition,  or  improper  motive,  or  to  the  violation  of  the 
feelings  of  their  kindred,  or  of  their  religious  unity  as 
Friends.  To -this  caution  they  annexed  "A  Description 
of  West  New  Jersey,"  of  its  climate,  soil,  and  produce, 
in  order  that  none  might  be  deceived,  or  have  occasion 
afterwards  to  repent  of  their  undertaking'. 

In  the  early  part  of  1077  William  Penn  continued  to 
be  employed  on  behalf  of  Byllinge.  It  appears  thai  he 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  219 

had  then  left  his  bouse  at  Rickinans worth  in  Hertford 
shire  and  that  h^  had  established  himself  at  Worming- 
hurst  in  Sussex.  Here,  then,  in  the  calm  retreat  of  the 
country,  he  took  thought  for  the  new  colony. 

While  at  Worminghurst  applications  came  to  him,  in 
consequence  of  the  public  letter  which  had  been  circulated, 
for  shares  in  the  new  adventure,  by  which  it  appeared  that 
there  was  a  probability  of  disposing  of  a  considerable 
portion  of  West  New  Jersey.  He  and  his  colleagues 
determined  to  appoint  and  send  over  commissioners,  who 
should  be  empowered  to  purchase  lands  of  the  Indians,  to 
examine  the  rights  of  such  as  might  claim  property  in  the 
new  territory,  to  give  directions  for  laying  out  the  allot 
ments  there,  and  to  administer,  for  the  first  year,  the  gov 
ernment  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  Concessions  before 
mentioned. 

They  resolved  next  to  open  proposals  for  the  immediate 
sale  of  the  lands.  Among  the  purchasers  were  two  corn- 
panic?,  both  consisting  of  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  one  from  London,  the  other  from  Yorkshire. 
These  contracted  for  large  shares,  and  had  patents  for 
them;  The  members  of  the  Yorkshire  company  were 
principal  creditors  of  Byllinge,  arid  they  received  a  tenth 
part  of  the  whole  land  in  consideration  of  their  debts. 

The  commissioners,  with  several  of  the  proprietors  and 
their  families  and  servants,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred 
md  thirty,  embarked  in  the  ship  Kent,  and  landed  where 
Burlington  now  stands,  on  the  Delaware,  above  Phila 
delphia. 

Within  two  years  after  the  sailing  of  the  ship  Griffith, 


220  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

about  eight  hundred  persons,  mostly  Friends,  had  been 
sent  by  the  trustees  to  West  New  Jersey. 

In  1C 80  much  dissatisfaction  was  caused  in  the  colony 
by  the  exaction  of  a  duty  of  ten  per  cent.,  laid  by  the 
government  of  New  York,  and  renewed  in  the  year  1GG9, 
on  all  imports  and  exports  at  Hoarkill,  now  Lewistown, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware  Bay.  The  settlers  therefore 
complaining  to  the  trustees  of  Billynge,  William  Penn  felt 
himself  called  upon  to  take  a  part  on  the  occasion.  lie  was 
aware  that,  if  he  succeeded  in  getting  rid  of  this  tax,  it 
would  be  to  the  detriment  of  his  friend,  the  Duke  of 
York,  and  that  he  might  even  offend  him  on  this  account ; 
but  when  he  considered  that  his  trusteeship  involved  in  it 
a  serious  duty,  and  that  the  demands  in  question  were 
unjust,  he  had  no  hesitation  in  pursuing  the  right  path. 
Accordingly,  in  conjunction  with  the  other  trustees,  he 
made  a  formal  application  to  the  duke  on  the  subject. 
The  duke  referred  the  matter  to  the  council.  There  it 
lay  for  some  time.  The  council  at  length  reported  in 
favor  of  Billyngc  ;  for  William  Pcnn  had  made  it  appear 
that  Billynge  had  purchased  the  government  of  the  conn- 
try  with  the  soil ;  that  the  country  therefore  ought  not  to 
be  subject  to  any  imposition  of  duties  by  the  government 
of  New  York;  the  Duke  of  York  having  granted  all  his 
right  to  the  said  country  to  the  assigns  of  Lord  Berkeley, 
and  the  latter  to  Billynge,  in  as  ample  a  manner  as  it  had 
been  granted  to  the  duke  by  the  king. 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  221 


XI. 

E  important  question  to  the  Society  of  Friends,  of 
the  establishment  and  extent  of  the  discipline,  occa 
sioning-  some  diversity  and  even  opposition  of  sentiments 
among  them,  William  Penn  wrote,  in  1681,  a  small  tract 
on  this  subject,  in  the  way  of  question  and  answer,  in 
which  he  explained  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  authority 
which  the  church  might  justly  exercise,  and  the  obligation 
of  the  members  to  submit  to  that  authority.  This  tract, 
entitled  "A  BRIEF  EXAMINATION  OF  LIBERTY  SPIRITUAL," 
is  here  inserted  in  part. 

DEAR  FRIENDS  AND  BRETHREN  : — It  hath  of  Ion*?  time 
rested  with  some  pressure  upon  iriy  spirit,  for  Zion's  sake 
and  the  peace  of  Jerusalem,  to  write  something-  of 'the 
nature  of  true  spiritual  liberty ;  liberty,  one  of  the  most 
glorious  words  and  things  in  the  world,  but  little  under 
stood,  and  frequently  abused  by  many.  I  beseech  Al 
mighty  God  to  preserve  you,  his  people,  in  the  right 
knowledge  and  use  of  that  liberty  which  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  hath  purchased  for  us  and  is 
redeeming  us  into,  who  hath  led  captivity  captive,  and  is 
giving  gifts  to  them  that  truly  believe  in  his  name. 

Question.  What  is  true  spiritual  liberty  ? 
Answer.  Deliverance  from  sin  by  the  perfect  law  in  the* 
19* 


222  PASSAGES    FEOM    THE    LIFE 

heart,  the  perfect  law  of  liberty,  James  ii.,  otherwise  called, 
the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  makes 
free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death;  elsewhere  styled,  the 
law  of  Truth  written  in  the  heart,  which  makes  free  indeed, 
as  saith  Christ,  If  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be 
free,,  indeed.  In  this  blessed  liberty,  it  is  not  the  will  nor 
wisdom  of  man,  neither  the  vain  affections  and  lusts  that 
rule  or  give  law  to  the  soul. 

Q.  What  is  false  liberty  ? 

A.  A  departing  from  this  blessed  Spirit  of  Truth,  and 
u  rebelling  against  this  perfect  law  of  liberty  in  the  heart, 
and  being  at  liberty  to  do  our  own  wills. 

Q.  But  are  there  not  some  things  wherein  we  ought  to 
be  left  to  our  own  freedom  ? 

A.  We  are  not  our  own,  for  we  are  bought  with  a  price; 
and  in  all  things  ought  we  to  glorify  God  with  our  bodies, 
souls,  and  spirits,  which  are  the  Lord's. 

Q.  But  must  we  have  a  motion  or  command  from  the 
Spirit  of  Truth  for  all  things  that  we  do  ? 

A.  That  may  be  according  to  the  Truth,  which  may  not 
be  by  the  immediate  motion  or  command  of  the  Truth ; 
for  that  is  according  to  the  Truth,  that  is  not  against  the 
mind  of  the  Truth,  either  particularly  or  generally  ex 
pressed.  The  Truth  commands  me  to  do  all  to  the  praise 
and  glory  of  God;  but  not  that  I  should  wait  for  a  motion 
to  do  every  particular  thing.  For  example :  The  variety 
of  actions  in  trading,  commerce,  and  husbandry,  the  va 
riety  of  flesh,  fish,  and  fowl  for  food,  with  more  of  the  same 
nature,  in  all  which  there  is  a  choice  and  liberty,  but  still 
according  to  the  Truth,  and  within  the  holy  bounds  and 
limits  of  it. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  223 

Q.  Then  it  seems  there  are  some  things  left  to  our 
freedom  ? 

A.  Yes;  but  it  must  still  be  according  to  the  mind  of 
God's  Truth.  There  are  things  enjoined,  such  as  relate 
to  our  duty  to  God,  to  our  superiors,  to  the  household  of 
faith,  and  to  all  men  and  creatures ;  these  are  indispensa 
ble.  There  are  also  things  that  may  be  done  or  left  un 
done,  which  may  be  called  indifferent ;  as  what  sort  of 
meat  1  will  eat  to-day,  whether  I  will  eat  flesh,  fish,  or 
herbs,  or  what  hours  I  will  cat  my  meals  at,  with  many 
such  outward  things  of  life  and  converse  ;  yet  even  in 
such  cases  I  ought  to  act  according  to  the  Truth,  in  the 
temperance  and  wisdom  of  it. 

Q.  But  doth  not  freedom  extend  further  than  this;  for 
since  God  hath  given  me  a  manifestation  of  his  Spirit  to 
profit  withal,  and  that  I  have  the  gift  of  God  in  myself, 
should  I  not  be  left  to  act  according  as  I  am  free  and  per 
suaded  in  my  own  mind,  in  the  things  that  relate  to  God, 
lest  looking  upon  myself  as  obliged  by  what  is  revealed 
unto  another,  though  it  be  not  revealed  unto  me,  I  should 
be  led  out  of  my  own  measure,  and  act  upon  another's  mo 
tion,  and  so  offer  a  blind  sacrifice  to  God? 

A.  This  is  'true  in  a  sense,  that  is,  if  thou  art  such  an 
one  that  canst  do  nothing  against  the  Truth,  then  mayst 
thou  safely  be  left  to  thy  freedom  in  the  things  of  God, 
and  the  reason  is  plain  ;  because  thy  freedom  stands  in  the 
perfect  law  of  liberty,  in  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  in  the  Truth,  which  is  Christ  Jesus, 
which  makes  thee  free  indeed,  that  is,  perfectly  free  from 
all  that  is  bad,  and  perfectly  free  to  all  that  is  holy,  just, 
lovely,  honest,  comely,  and  of  good  report;  but  if  thou 


224  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

pleadest  thy  freedom  against  such  things,  yea,  obstructest 
and  slightest  such  good,  wholesome,  and  requisite  things, 
thy  freedom  is  naught,  dark,  perverse,  out  of  the  Truth, 
and  against  the  perfect  law  of  love  and  liberty. 

Q.  But  must  I  conform  to  things  whether  I  can  receive 
them  or  no?  Ought  I  not  to  be  left  to  the  grace  and  spirit 
of  God  in  my  own  heart  ? 

A.  To  the  first  part  of  the  question,  Nay ;  to  the  last, 
Yea.  But  now  let  us  consider  what  is  the  reason  thou 
canst  not  receive  them.  Is  the  fault  in  the  things  them 
selves  ?  Arc  they  inconsistent  with  Truth,  or  will  not 
the  Truth  own  or  assent  unto  them,  or  is  the  fault  in 
thee  ?  That  is  to  say,  is  it  thy  weakness  or  thy  careless 
ness  ;  if  thy  weakness,  it  is  to  be  borne  with,  and  to  be 
informed  ;  if  thy  carelessness,  thou  oughtest  to  be  admon 
ished  ;  for  it  is  a  dangerous  principle,  and  pernicious  to 
true  religion,  and  which  is  worse,  it  is  the  root  of  ranter- 
ism  to  assert,  That  nothing  is  a  duty  incumbent  upon 
thee,  but  what  thou  art  persuaded  is  thy  duty :  for  the 
seared  conscience  pleads  this  liberty  against  all  duty ;  the 
dark  conscience  is  here  unconcerned ;  the  dead  conscience 
is  here  uncondenmed,  unless  this  distinction  be  allowed 
of,  that  there  may  be  an  ignorance  or  an  insensibility  from 
inability  or  incapacity,  or  a  dark  education ;  and  an  igno 
rance  and  insensibility,  from  carelessness,  disobedience, 
prejudice,  etc.  So  that  though  thou  art  not  to  conform  to 
a  thing,  ignorantly,  yet  thou  art  seriously  to  consider  why 
thou  art  ignorant,  and  what  the  cause  of  such  ignorance 
may  be ;  certainly  it  cannot  be  in  God,  nor  in  his  gift  to 
thee ;  it  must  then  needs  be  in  thyself,  who  hast  not  yet 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  225 

received  a  sense  for  or  against  the  matter,  about  \vhich 
thou  art  in  doubt. 

To  the  second  part  of  the  question :  Ought  I  not  to  be 
left  to  the  grace  of  God  in  my  own  heart  ?  Answer,  That 
is  of  all  things  most  desirable,  since  they  are  well  left  who 
are  left  there  ;  for  there  is  no  fear  of  want  of  unity,  where 
all  are  left  with  the  one  Spirit  of  Truth  ;  they  must  be  of 
one  mind,  they  cannot  be  otherwise.  So  that  to  plead  this 
against  unity,  is  to  abuse  the  very  plea,  and  to  commit 
the  greatest  contradiction  to  that  very  doctrine  of  Scrip 
ture,  viz.,  That  all  should  be  guided  by  the  grace  and  spirit 
of  God  in  themselves;  for  the  end  of  that  doctrine  is  cer 
tainty.  "  They  shall  all  know  me,  saith  the  Lord,  from 
the  least  to  the  greatest."  "And  I  will  give  them  one 
heart  and  one  way,  that  they  may  fear  me  forever,  for  the 
good  of  them,  and  of  their  children  after  them."  "  And  the 
multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart  and  of 
one  soul." 

Q.  But  are  there  not  various  measures,  diversities  of 
gifts,  and  several  offices  in  the  body  ? 

A.  True  ;  but  are  not  the  members  therefore  of  one 
mind,  one  will,  and  one  judgment  in  common  and  univer 
sal  matters,  especially  relating  to  the  family  and  church 
of  God  ?  and  indeed  there  cannot  be  a  falser  reasoning 
than  to  conclude  discord  from  diversity,  contrariety  from 
variety.  Well,  say  the  holy  Scriptures  of  Truth,  there  is 
but  one  God ;  the  Lord  our  God  is  but  one  Lord  ;  there  is 
but  one  God  and  Father  of  all  things  (that  are  good) ; 
and  there  is  but  one  Lord,  one  faith,  and  one  baptism ; 
and  his  light,  life,  and  Spirit  is  at  unity  with  itself  in  all; 
what  comes  from  the  light,  life,  or  Spirit  in  one,  it  is  the 

P 


226  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

same  in  truth  and  unity  to  the  rest,  as  if  it  did  rise  in 
themselves.  This  is  seen  in  our  assemblies  every  day, 
and  will  be  throughout  all  generations  in  the  church  of 
God,  among  those  that  live  in  the  lowly  Truth,  in  which 
the  pure  sense  and  sound  judgment  stands;  God  is  not 
the  God  of  confusion,  but  order.  Every  one  in  his  order 
is  satisfied,  hath  unity  and  true  fellowship  with  whatever 
comes  from  the  life  of  God  in  another ;  for  this  precious 
life  reacheth  throughout  the  heritage  of  God,  and  is  the 
common  life  that  giveth  the  common  feeling  and  sense  to 
the  heritage  of  God.  Degree  or  measure  in  the  same  life 
can  never  contradict  or  obstruct  that  which  is  from  the 
same  life  for  the  common  benefit  of  the  family  of  God. 

Saith  that  beloved  evangelist  and  apostle  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  They  that  walk  in  the  light  have  fellowship 
one  with  another,  1  John  i.  Whence  it  is  easy  to  conclude, 
they  that  go  out  of  the  fellowship  go  out  of  the  Light ;  but 
if  they  that  walk  in  the  Light  have  fellowship  one  with 
another,  what  shall  we  say  of  those  that  plead  being  left  to 
the  Light  to  justify  their  not  having  fellowship  one  with 
another  ?  and,  which  is  yet  worse,  who  suppose  people  may 
conscientiously  and  justifiably  dissent  within  themselves, 
and  that  by  reason  of  the  variety  of  the  degrees  of  the  Spirit 
and  grace  that  are  given  of  God  unto  them ;  as  if  the 
lesser  degree  may  dissent  from  the  greater,  because  of  its 
not  being  able  to  comprehend  it.  The  fallacy  of  all  which 
lieth,  as  I  said  before,  in  not  rightly  distinguishing  be 
tween  diversity  and  disagreement,  variety  and  contrariety; 
for  this  diversity  hath  concord,  and  this  variety  hath  unity. 
And  it  is  a  blindness  that  hath  too  much  of  late  happened 
to  some,  by  going  from  the  one  life  and  spirit  of  our  Lord 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  227 

Jesus  Christ,  first  to  fall  into  disagreements,  and  then 
plead  for  it,  under  the  notion  of  diversity  of  measures. 

They  that  have  the  mind  of  Christ  are  of  one  mind ; 
for  Christ  is  not  divided.  They  that  have  Christ  for 
their  head,  have  one  counsellor  and  prophet,  one  seer  and 
bishop  ;  they  disagree  not  in  their  judgments  in  things  re 
lating  to  Him  and  the  good  of  his  church ;  they  have  one 
and  the  same  guide ;  for  the  one  Spirit,  into  which  they 
have  all  drank,  and  by  it  are  baptized  into  one  body,  leads 
them  all.  Now  to  every  member  is  a  measure  of  the 
same  Spirit  given  to  profit  with ;  and  though  every 
member  is  not  an  eye,  nor  an  car,  nor  a  mouth,  yet  every 
member  hath  unity  with  the  eye,  with  the  ear,  with  the 
mouth,  and  in  their  proper  and  respective  acts,  and  they 
one  with  the  other.  The  eye  sees  for  the  mouth,  the 
mouth  speaks  for  the  eye,  and  the  car  hears  for  both  ;  this 
variety  hath  no  discord,  but  in  this  diversity  of  gifts  and 
offices,  each  member  is  sensible  of  the  other,  and  moves 
and  acts  by  one  and  the  same  life,  spirit,  and  guidance, 
which  is  omnipresent,  proportionable  to  every  member  in 
its  distinct  office. 

It  must  be  granted,  that  there  are  helps  in  the  church, 
as  well  as  that  there  is  a  church  at  all ;  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  compared  those  helps,  as  is  before  mentioned, 
to  several  members  and  senses  of  man's  body,  as  an  eye, 
a  hand,  a  foot,  hearing,  smelling,  etc.  All  then  cannot  be 
the  eye,  neither  can  all  be  the  hand,  for  then  they  would 
confound  their  office,  and  act  disagreeably  to  the  ordina 
tion  of  the  great  orderer  of  his  church.  And  if  I  will  not 
comply  with  him  that  God  hath  made  an  eye,  because  I 
am  not  that  eye,  or  a  hand,  because  I  am  not  that  mom- 


228  PASSAGES    FROM     THE     LIFE 

her  myself,  nor  a  party  to  the  action  or  performance  of 
that  member,  I  resist  the  Lord,  though  under  pretence 
of  resisting-  man  for  the  Lord's  sake.  And  truly  this  is 
the  rock  that  some  of  our  own  time,  as  well  as  persons  of 
former  ages,  have  split  upon ;  they  have  not  been  con 
tented  with  their  own  station  in  the  body,  they  have  not 
kept  to  their  own  gift,  nor  been  taken  up  with  the  duty 
of  their  own  place  in  the  church.  If  he  that  is  a  foot 
would  be  an  hand,  and  the  hand  covets  to  be  an  eye,  en 
vying  others  their  allotted  station,  through  height  of 
mind,  and  walking  loose  from  the  holy  cross,  there  can  be 
no  such  thing  as  concord  and  fellowship  in  the  church  of 
Christ. 

Q.  But  though  this  be  true  which  hath  been  alleged 
for  heavenly  concord,  yet  what  if  I  do  not  presently  see 
that  service  in  a  thing  which  the  rest  of  my  brethren 
agree  in  ;  in  this  case,  what  :s  my  duty  and  theirs  ? 

A.  It  is  thy  duty  to  wait  upon  God  in  silence  and 
patience,  out  of  all  fleshly  consultations ;  and  as  thou 
abidest  in  the  simplicity  of  the  Truth,  thou  wilt  receive 
an  understanding  with  the  rest  of  thy  brethren,  about  the 
thing  doubted.  And  it  is  their  duty,  whilst  thou  behavest 
thyself  in  meekness  and  humility,  to  bear  with  thee,  and 
carry  themselves  tenderly  and  in  love  towards  thee ;  but 
if,  on  the  contrary,  thou  disturbest  their  godly  care  and 
practice,  and  growest  contentious,  and  exaltcst  thy  judg 
ment  against  them,  they  have  power  from  God  to  exhort, 
admonish,  and  reprove  thce ;  and  if  thou  persevercst 
therein,  in  his  name  to  refuse  any  further  fellowship  with 
thee,  till  thou  repentest  of  thy  evil. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  229 

Q.  What  is  the  extent  of  the  power  of  the  church  of 
Christ  in  case  of  schism  or  heresy? 

A.  The  power  that  Christ  gave  to  his  church  was  this, 
that  offenders,  after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  not 
repenting,  should  be  rejected. 

All  these  things  have  come  to  pass  for  want  of  humility, 
for  want  of  the  ancient  fear  and  keeping  in  the  quiet  habi 
tation  of  the  just.  The  Truth  in  you  all  shall  answer  me. 
And  this  I  affirm,  from  the  understanding  I  have  received 
of  God,  not  only  that  the  enemy  is  at  work  to  scatter  the 
minds  of  Friends,  by  that  loose  plea,  What  hast  thou  to 
do  with  me  ?  Leave  me  to  my  freedom  and  to  the  grace 
of  God  in  myself,  and  the  like ;  but  this  proposition  and 
expression,  as  now  understood  and  alleged,  is  a  deviation 
from  and  a  perversion  of  the  ancient  principle  of  Truth. 

For  this  is  the  plain  consequence  of  this  plea,  if  any 
one,  especially  if  they  are  but  lately  convinced,  shall  say, 
I  see  no  evil  in  paying  tithes  to  hireling  priests,  in  that 
they  are  not  claimed  by  Divine  right,  but  by  the  civil 
laws  of  the  land  i  I  see  no  evil  in  marrying  by  the  priest, 
for  he  is  but  a  witness ;  furthermore,  I  see  no  evil  in  de 
clining  a  public  testimony  in  suffering  times,  or  hiding  in 
times  of  persecution,  for  I  have  Christ's  and  Paul's  ex 
amples;  I  see  no  evil  in  worshipping  and  respecting  the 
persons  of  men,  for  whatever  others  do,  I  .intend  a  sin 
cere  notice  that  I  take  of  those  I  know  and  have  a  good 
esteem  for.  Lastly,  I  sec  no  evil  in  keeping  my  shop  shut 
upon  the  world's  holidays  and  massdays,  as  they  call  them, 
though  they  arc  rather  lewdly  and  superstitiously  than 
religiously  kept,  for  I  would  not  willingly  give  any 
offence  to  my  neighbors;  and  since  your  testimony  in 
20 


230  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     E I  F  E 

against  imposition,  and  for  leaving  every  one  to  the  meas 
ure  of  grace  which  God  hath  given  him,  not  only,  No 
man  hath  power  to  reprove  or  judge  me,  but  I  may  be  as 
good  a  Friend  as  any  of  you,  according  to  my  measure. 
And  now,  here  is  measure  set  up  against  measure,  which 
is  confusion  itself — Babel,  indeed. 

This  is  the  rock  which  both  professors  and  profane 
would  long  since  have  run  us  upon,  namely,  That  a  way 
is  hereby  opened  to  all  the  world's  libertines,  to  plead  the 
light  within  for  their  excesses ;  which  indeed  grieves  the 
spirit  of  God,  and  was  severely  judged  by  our  Friends  in 
the  beginning,  and  is  still  reproved  by  them  that  keep 
their  habitation,  though  some  are  become  as  wandering 
stars  through  their  own  pride  and  the  prcvalency  of  the 
hour  of  temptation  that  hath  overtaken  them ;  where 
as  had  they  kept  in  the  channel  of  love  and  life,  in  the 
orbit  and  order  of  the  celestial  power,  they  had  shiucd  as 
stars  in  the  firmament  of  God  forever. 

The  enemy,  by  these  fair  pretences,  strikes  at  the  godly 
care  and  travail  which  dwells  upon  the  spirits  of  many 
faithful  brethren,  that  all  things-might  be  preserved  sweet, 
comely,  virtuous,  and  of  good  report  in  the  church  of  God. 
There  never  was  greater  necessity  of  this  godly  care  than 
at  this  day,  since. we  were  a  people,  wherein  the  cross,  by 
too  many,  is  not  so  closely  kept  to  as  in  days  past,  and  in 
which  there  is  not  only  a  great  convincement,  but  a  young 
generation  descended  of  Friends,  who  though  they  retain 
the  form  their  education  hath  led  them  into,  yet  many  of 
them  adorn  not  the  Gospel  with  that  sensible,  weighty, 
and  heavenly  conversition  as  becomes  the  children  of  the 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  231 

undefilcd  religion,  and  the  seed  of  that  precious  faith  which 
works  by  the  Ioi7c  that  overcomes  the  world. 

Wherefore  I  warn  all  that  they  have  a  care  how  they 
give  way  to  the  outcry  of  some,  falsely  entitled,  Liberty 
of  conscience  against  imposition,  etc.  Indeed,  it  is  a  great 
shame  that  any  who  have  ever  known  the  Truth  of  God  in 
the  inward  parts,  and  the  sweet  society  of  brethren,  espe 
cially  those  who  were  early  in  the  work  of  this  blessed  day 
and  heavenly  dispensation,  should  so  far  depart  from  the 
fear  and  awe  of  the  Lord,  as  to  use  such  unsavory  as  well 
as  untrue  expressions.  This  is  very  far  from  that  meek 
spirit  of  Jesus  which  btareth  all  things,  suffereth  all 
things,  and  endureth  all  things,  and  teacheth  to  keep  the 
word  of  patience  in  the  hour  of  tribulation  ;  nay,  but  it  is 
jud/ing  of  spiritual  things  with  a  carnal  and  prejudiced 
mind,  stumbling  at  the  matter  for  the  sake  of  the  persons 
through  whom  it  comes,  not  eying  nor  weighing  the 
spirit  the  thing  arises  from,  but  the  person  by  whom 
it  is  spoken,  which  darkens  the  eye  of  the  understand 
ing,  and  blinds,  by  prejudice,  the  mind  that  should  dis 
cern,  taste,  and  judge;  from  whence  many  mischiefs  have 
sprung  to  the  church  of  Christ  in  divers  ages. 

This,  dear  Friends,  1  send  amongst  you  as  a  token  of 
my  true  love,  in  the  revelation  of  the  free  spirit  of  our 
God  and  Father,  who  have  ever  been  a  friend  to  true 
liberty,  as  in  the  state  according  to  law,  so  in  the  church 
according  to  Scripture,  and  as  it  standeth  in  the  Truth  <\C 
flesns,  that  makes  them  who  love  it  free  indeed.  Let  us 
all  keep  low,  and  remember  the  rock  from  whence  we 
were  hewn,  and  dwell  in  a  tender  and  reverent  sense  of 
the  daily  mercies  and  providences  of  the  Lord,  looking 


232  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

H 

well  to  our  own  growth  and  prosperity  in  his  heavenly 
way  and  work ;  then  shall  the  desire  of  our  hearts  be 
more  and  more  after  Him,  and  the  remembrance  of  hirf 
name ;  and  with  our  love  to  God,  will  our  love  increase 
one  towards  another,  helping  and  aiding  one  another. 

And  beware  of  that  loose  and  irreverent  spirit  which 
has  not  those  in  high  esteem  among  you  who  are  faithful 
in  the  Lord's  work,  and  who  labor  in  his  blessed  word  and 
doctrine.  They  that  love  Christ,  his  servants  are  dear  to 
them,  and  they  bear  a  tender  regard  to  their  trials,  travails, 
spcndings,  and  sufferings,  who  seek  not  yours,  but  you, 
that  you  may  all  be  presented  blameless  at  the  coining  of 
the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  that  so  the 
Gospel  ministry  and  testimony  may  be  held  up  with  holy, 
fervent  love,  and  godly  esteem,  to  the  keeping  under  every 
raw  and  exalted  mind,  and  whatever  may  slight  and  turn 
against  it.  Be  watchful,  keep  to  your  first  love  and  works, 
that  so  you  may  endure  to  the  end  and  be  saved.  And 
having  overcome,  you  may  have  right  to  eat  of  the  tree 
of  life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God. 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXN.  233 


XII. 

WE  have  seen  how  William  Penn  had  become  con 
cerned  in  the  colonization  of  West  Jersey.  But  in 
1G79,  Sir  George  Carteret,  proprietor  of  East  Jersey, 
died,  leaving  his  property  there  to  be  sold  for  the  benefit 
of  his  creditors.  This  sale  was  effected  in  the  beginning 
of  1682,  William  Penn  and  eleven  others  being  the  pur 
chasers.  They  soon  afterwards  took  into  the  concern 
twelve  others,  thus  constituting  a  company  of  twenty- 
four  proprietors,  nearly  all  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  and  of  whom  Robert  Barclay,  the  celebrated 
Apologist,  was  one.  Of  this  growing  colony,  Robert 
Barclay  was  appointed  governor  for  life,  but  he  never 
visited  the  country.  He  held  the  office  of  governor  only 
about  two  years,  having  entrusted  the  execution  of  his 
official  duties  to  a  deputy.  Thus  it  happened  that  New 
Jersey,  both  east  and  west,  was  settled,  in  great  part,  un 
der  the  auspices  of  Friends. 

It  appears  by  one  of  his  letters,  that  at  an  early  period 
of  his  life,  even  while  he  was  a  student  at  Oxford,  William 
Penn  had  a  distant  prospect  of  service  in  the  western 
world ;  and  his  connection  with  the  province  of  New 
Jersey  having  made  him  partially  acquainted  with  the 
country  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Delaware,  he  formed 
the  idea  of  procuring  the  grant  of  a  territory  there  ;  in 
which  he  might  not  only  fuiyiish  an  asylum  to  Friends 


234:  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

and  others  who  were  persecuted  on  account  of  their  re 
ligious  persuasion,  but  might  erect  a  government  upon 
principles  approaching  much  nearer  the  standard  of  evan 
gelical  purity  than  any  which  had  been  previously  raised. 

He  inherited  from  his  father  a  claim  on  the  British  gov 
ernment  amounting  to  sixteen  thousand  pounds  for  ser 
vices  and  for  money  advanced.  In  1680  he  asked  of 
King  Charles  II.,  in  satisfaction  of  this  claim,  a  grant 
of  land  in  America,  north  of  Maryland,  "  bounded  on  the 
east  by  the  Delaware  River,  on  the  west  limited  as  Mary 
land,  and  northward  to  extend  as  far  as  plan  table." 

The  grant  to  Lord  Baltimore,  which  was  made  by 
Charles  I.,  lay  to  the  south,  and  was  understood  to  ex 
tend  no  further  north  than  some  point  on  the  Delaware  Bay. 
The  Duke  of  York  obtained  a  part  of  the  tract  lying  on 
the  cast  of  that  bay.  The  application  of  William  Perm 
was  laid  before  the  privy  council,  and  by  them  referred  to 
the  Lords  Committee  of  Trade  and  Plantations.  The  agent 
of  the  Duke  of  York  was  heard  in  relation  to  the  claims  of 
the  latter.  The  rights  of  Lord  Baltimore  were  also  ex 
amined.  The  advice  of  Chief- Justice  North  and  the  attor 
ney-general  was  taken  on  the  subject.  After  these  con 
tiguous  claims  had  been  fully  canvassed,  a  charter  was 
granted  to  William  Penn,  dated  at  Westminster,  the  fourth 
of  March,  1681,  constituting  him  proprietary  and  gov 
ernor  of  the  province  of  Pennsylvania. 

William  Penn  informs  his  friend  Robert  Turner  of  the 
grant  in  the  following  letter  : 

"  DEAR  FRIEND  : — My  true  love  in  the  Lord  salutes  thee 
and  dear  Friends  that  love  the  Lord's  precious  Truth  in 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  235 

those  parts.  Thine  I  have,  and  for  my  business  here, 
know  that  after  many  waitings,  watchings,  solicitings, 
and  disputes  in  council,  this  day  my  country  was  con 
firmed  to  me  under  the  great  seal  of  England,  with  large 
powers  and  privileges,  by  the  name  of  Pennsylvania ;  a 
name  the  king  would  give  it  in  honor  of  my  father.  I 
chose  New  Wales,  being,  as  this,  a  pretty  hilly  country, 
but  Perm  being  Welsh  for  a  head,  as  Penmanmoire  in 
Wales,  and  Penrith  in  Cumberland,  and  Perm  in  Buck 
inghamshire,  the  highest  land  in  England,  called  this 
Pennsylvania,  which  is  the  high  or  head  woodlands;  for 
I  proposed,  when  the  secretary,  a  Welshman,  refused  to 
have  it  called  New*  Wales,  Sylvania,  and  they  added  Penn 
to  it ;  and  though  I  much  opposed  it,  and  went  to  the 
king  to  have  it  struck  out  and  altered,  he  said  it  was  past, 
and  would  take  it  upon  him ;  nor  could  twenty  guineas 
move  the  under  secretary  to  vary  the  name ;  for  I  feared 
lest  it  should  be  looked  on  as  a  vanity  in  me,  and  not  as 
a  respect  in  the  king,  as  it  truly  was,  to  my  father,  whom 
he  often  mentions  with  praise.  Thou  mayest  communicate 
my  grant  to  Friends,  and  expect  shortly  my  proposals. 

"  It  is  a  clear  and  just  thing,  and  my  God,  that  has  given 
it  me  through  many  difficulties,  will,  I  believe,  bless  and 
make  it  the  seed  of  a  nation.  I  shall  have  a  tender  care 
to  the  government,  that  it  be  well  laid  at  first.  No  more 
now,  but  dear  love  in  the  Truth. 

"Thy  true  Friend,  WILLIAM  PENN." 

This  province  is  described  in  the  charter  as  bounded  on 
the  east  by  the  Delaware  River,  from  a  point  twelve  miles 
north  of  Newcastle,  to  the  beginning  of  the  forty-third 


236  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

degree  of  north  latitude,  in  case  the  river  should  bo  found 
to  extend  that  far  north — or  if  it  should  not,  then  a 
meridian  was -to  be  run  from  its  head  waters  to  the  said 
latitude ;  on  the  north  by  the  parallel  of  latitude  passing 
through  the  beginning  of  the  forty-third  degree ;  and 
to  extend  westward  through  five  degrees  of  longitude, 
computing  from  this  eastern  boundary.  The  southern 
boundary  was  to  be  determined  by  a  circle  described 
at  twelve  miles  from  Newcastle,  northward  and  west 
ward,  until  it  intersected  the  beginning  of  the  fortieth 
degree  of  north  latitude ;  and  thence  the  line  was  to  ex 
tend  on  that  parallel  westward  to  the  meridian  previously 
determined.  The  province  was,  therefore,  designed  to 
include  three  degrees  of  latitude,  except  a  small  part  on 
the  eastern  side,  and  five  degrees  of  longitude  on  the 
northern  parallel.  It  was  afterwards  discovered,  that 
owing  to  the  ignorance  of  the  people  of  that  day  in  regard 
to  the  geography  of  the  country,  the  boundaries  assigned 
to  Pennsylvania  were  irreconcilable  with  each  other,  and 
encroached  on  the  chartered  limits  of  Maryland.  This 
involved  the  proprietaries  in  a  controversy  which  was  not 
terminated  during  their  lives. 

In  regard  to  the  motives  of  William  Penn  in  this  under 
taking,  it  is  evident  that  he  was  most  influenced  by 
religious  considerations.  In  one  of  his  letters  he  has 
this  passage  : 

"  And  now  give  me  leave  to  say,  I  have  served  the  Lord, 
his  Truth  and  people  in  my  day  to  my  ability,  and  not 
sought  myself,  though  much  spent  myself;  so  has  lie 
made  me  to  firmly  believe  that  I  shall  not  even  outwardly 
go  without  my  reward  j  I  see  his  blessed  hand  therein, 


OF    W  I  L  L  I  A  M 


239 


that  has  blessed  my  faith  and  patienc*.  f}ie 

with  success.     And  because  I  have  bt  ^       ° 

cised  at  times  about  the  nature  and  e 
among-  men,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  i 
(leaver  to  establish  a  just  and  righteous  one  i 
that  others  may  take  example  by  it — truly  i  .c 

desires.  For  nations  want  a  precedent,  and  i  ^o  and 
corrupt  manners  be  impartially  rebuked  and  punished,  and 
till  virtue  and  sobriety  be  cherished,  the  wrath  of  God 
will  hang-  over  nations.  I  do,  therefore,  desire  the  Lord's 
wisdom  to  guide  me,  and  those  that  may  be  concerned 
with  me,  that  we  may  do  the  thing  that  is  truly  wise  and 
just." 

In  a  letter  to  a  particular  friend,  written  in  A681,  he  says: 

"  For  my  country  I  eyed  the  Lord  in  obtaining  it ;  and 
more  was  I  drawn  inward  to  look  to  Him,  and  to  owe  it  to 
his  hand  and  power  than  to  any  other  way.  I  have  so 
obtained  it  and  desire  to  keep  it,  that  I  may  not  be  un 
worthy  of  his  love ;  but  do  that  which  may  answer  his 
kind  providence  and  serve  his  Truth  and  people;  that  an 
example  may  be  set  up  to  the  nations.  There  may  be 
room  there,  though  not  here,  for  such  an  holy  experiment." 

The  motives  of  the  king  in  making  this  grant,  as  far  as 
they  can  be  inferred  from  the  charter  itself,  appear  to  have 
been  a  desire  to  "  favor  William  Penn  in  his  laudable 
efforts  to  enlarge  the  British  empire,  to  promote  the  trade 
and  prosperity  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  reduce  the  savage 
nations  by  just  and  gentle  measures,  to  the  love  of  civil 
ized  life,  and  the  Christian  religion ;  "  and  a  regard  to  the 
memory  and  merits  of  the  deceased  admiral. 

Immediately  after  obtaining  his  charter,  William  Penn 


236  "PASSAGES  FROM   THE  LIFE 

his  preparations  for  settling  the  province.  He 
prepared  such  an  account  of  the  country  as  could  then  be 
obtained,  which  he  published  together  with  a  copy  of  the 
charter  and  other  documents  connected  with  it ;  explain 
ing  the  terms  upon  which  the  lands  were  to  be  sold.  The 
conditions  of  sale  were,  forty  shillings  sterling,  in  cash, 
and  one  shilling  per  annum  forever,  as  the  price  of  one 
hundred  acres  of  unseated  land.  These  annual  payments 
were  called  quit-rents,  and  were  allowed  to  be  principally 
purchased  off  at  the  option  of  the  grantee.  A  small  annual 
sum,  however,  was  designed  to  remain  as  a  perpetual  rent. 
These  quit-rents  were  a  part  of  the  original  purchase. 
The  reason  why  they  were  not  allowed  to  be  totally  ex 
tinguished  by  subsequent  purchase,  is  said  to  have  been, 
that  William  Penn  held  his  title  from  the  crown  by  a 
small  annual  rent,  and  therefore  a  small  yearly  rent  from 
the  purchasers  was  requisite  to  give  validity  to  their 
titles.  The  yearly  return  of  William  Penn  to  the  king 
appears  by  the  charter  J:o  have  been  merely  nominal,  ex 
cept  under  the  contingency  of  discovering  mines  of  silver 
or  gold ;  in  which  case  one-fifth  of  the  ore  was  reserved. 
Yet  the  title  of  the  proprietary  to  the  soil  was,  in  point 
of  law,  a  feudal,  not  an  allodial  tenure,  but  divested  of 
the  military  character  of  such  tenures ;  he  therefore  did 
not  consider  himself  authorized  to  make  sales  upon  allodial 
principles. 

The  invitation  which  the  proposals  contained,  to  such 
of  his  countrymen  as  might  incline  to  emigrate  to  Penn 
sylvania,  was  marked  by  his  usual  solicitude  for  their 
religious  as  well  as  temporal  advancement.  The  address 
was;  closed  with  the  following  judicious  admonition  : 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  239 

"  I  desire  my  dear  country-folks  to  consider  seriously  the 
premises,  as  well  the  inconveniency  as  future  ease  and 
plenty ;  that  so  none  may  move  rashly,  or  from  a  fickle, 
but  from  a  solid  mind ;  having  above  all  things,  an  eye  to 
the  providence  of  God  in  the  disposing  of  themselves; 
and  I  would  further  advise  all  such,  at  least  to  have  the 
permission,  if  not  the  good-liking  of  their  near  relations ; 
for  that  is  both  natural  and  a  duty  incumbent  upon  all. 
And  by  this  will  natural  affections  be  preserved,  and  a 
friendly  and  profitable  correspondence  between  them  ;  in 
all  which  I  beseech  Almighty  God  to  direct  us,  that  his 
blessing  may  attend  our  honest  endeavors ;  and  then  the, 
consequence  of  all  our  undertakings  will  turn  to  the  glory 
of  his  great  name,  and  all  true  happiness  to  us  and  our 
posterity.  Amen." 

William  Pcnn,  having  now  a  colony  of  his  own  to  settle, 
was  obliged  to  give  up  his  mana.gement  of  that  of  West 
New  Jersey ;  but  it  was  a  matter  of  great  satisfaction  to 
him  that  he  had  brought  it  from  infanc}7"  to  a  state  of  man 
hood,  to  a  state  in  which  it  could  take  care  of  itself.  He 
had  sent  to  it  about  fourteen  hundred  people,  of  whom  the 
adults  were  persons  of  high  character.  The  town  of  Bur 
lington  had  been  built.  Farms  had  risen  up  out  of  the 
wild  waste.  Roads  had  been  formed.  Religious  meeting 
houses  had  been  erected  in  the  place  of  tents  covered  with 
sail-cloth,  under  which  the  first  settlers  worshipped.  A 
respectable  magistracy  had  been  established.  The  Indians 
in  the  neighborhood  had  been  turned  into  friends  and  ben 
efactors.  Such  was  the  situation  of  West  New  Jersey 
when  he  took  his  leave  of  it,  and  therefore  it  was  with 
the  less  regret  he  left  it  to  attend  to  his  own  concerns. 


240  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

After  publishing-  his  "Account  of  the  Province,"  he 
drew  up  next  "  Certain  Conditions  or  Concessions  to  be 
Agreed  upon  by  William  Penn,  Proprietary  and  Governor 
of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  and  those  who  may  be 
come  Adventurers  and  Purchasers  in  the  same  Province  " 
These  conditions  related  to  the  building,  forming,  and  set 
tling  of  towns,  roads,  and  lands,  and  to  the  treatment  of 
the  natives,  and  other  subjects.  They  consisted  of  twenty 
articles.  Among  other  things,  it  was  stipulated  in  these 
that  no  purchaser  of  ten  thousand  acres  or  more  should 
have  above  a  thousand  acres  lying  together,  unless  in 
three  years  he  planted  a  family  upon  every  thousand  of 
the  same.  That  in  clearing  the  ground  care  should  be 
taken  to  leave  one  acre  of  trees  for  every  five  acres  cleared, 
especially  to  preserve  oaks  and  mulberries  for  silk  and  ship 
ping. 

In  behalf  of  the  Indians  it  was  stipulated,  that,  as  it 
had  been  usual  with  planters  to  overreach  them  in  various 
ways,  whatever  was  sold  to  them  in  consideration  of  their 
furs  should  be  sold  in  the  public  market-place,  and  there 
suffer  the  test,  whether  good  or  bad :  if  good,  to  pass ;  if 
not  good,  not  to  be  sold  for  good;  that  the  said  native 
Indians  might  neither  be  abused  nor  provoked.  That  no 
man  should  by  any  ways  or  means,  in  word  or  deed,  af 
front  or  wrong  any  Indian,  but  he  should  incur  the  same 
penalty  of  the  law  as  if  he  had  committed  it  against  his 
fellow  planter ;  and  if  any  Indian  should  abuse,  in  word 
or  deed,  any  planter  of  the  province,  that  the  said  planter 
should  not  be  his  own  judge  upon  the  said  Indian,  but 
that  he  should  make  his  complaint  to  the  governor  of  the 
province,  or  his  deputy,  or  some  inferior  magistrate  near 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  241 

him,  who  should  to  the  utmost  of  his  power  take  care  with 
the  king  of  the  said  Indian  that  all  reasonable  satisfaction 
should  be  made  to  the  said  injured  planter.  And  that  all 
differences  between  planters  and  Indians  should  be  ended 
by  twelve  men,  that  is,  by  six  planters  and  six  Indians, 
that  so  they  might  live  friendly  together,  as  much  as  in 
them  lay,  preventing  all  occasions  of  heart-burnings  and 
mischief. 

These  stipulations  in  favor  of  the  poor  natives  will  al 
ways  give  honor  to  the  name  of  William  Penn ;  for,  ris 
ing  above  the  prejudices  and  customs  of  his  time,  by  which 
navigators  and  adventurers  thought  it  right  to  consider 
the  inhabitants  of  the  lands  they  discovered  as  their  law 
ful  prey,  whom  they  might  treat,  use,  and  take  advantage 
of  at  their  pleasure,  he  regarded  them  as  creatures  endued 
with  reason,  as  men  of  the  like  feelings  and  passions  with 
himself,  as  brethren  both  by  nature  and  grace,  and  as  per 
sons,  therefore,  to  whom  the  great  duties  of  humanity  and 
justice  were  to  be  extended,. and  who,  in  proportion  to 
their  ignorance,  were  the  more  entitled  to  his  fatherly 
protection  and  care, 

"  The  Account  of  Pennsylvania,"  which  was  before 
mentioned,  and  the  "  Conditions  or  Concessions,"  part  of 
which  have  been  detailed,  having  been  made  known  to 
the  public,  many  purchasers  came  forward  both  in  Lon 
don  and  Liverpool,  and  particularly  in  Bristol.  Among 
those  in  the  latter  city,  J.  Claypole,  N.  Moore,  P.  Forde, 
and  others  formed  a  company,  which  they  called,  "The 
Free  Society  of  Traders  in  Pennsylvania."  They  pur 
chased  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  in  trust  for  the  said 
company,  and  prepared  for  embarking  in  many  branches 
21  Q 


242  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

of  trade.     Other  persons  purchased  also,  and  among  these 
a  great  number  of  Friends  from  Wales. 

It  was  necessary,  before  any  of  the  purchasers  cm- 
barked,  that  they  should  know  something-  of  the  political 
constitution  under  which  they  were  to  live  in  the  new 
land,  as  well  as  that  it  should  be  such  as  they  approved. 
William  Penn  accordingly  drew  up  a  rough  sketch,  to  be 
submitted  to  their  opinion,  of  that  great  frame  of  govern 
ment  which  he  himself  wished  to  become  the  future  and 
permanent  one  of  the  province.  It  consisted  of  twenty- 
four  articles.  These  were  preceded  by  what  he  called  his 
first  or  great  fundamental,  by  which  he  gave  them  that 
liberty  of  conscience  which  the  laws  of  their  own  country 
denied  them,  and  in  behalf  of  which  he  had  both  written 
and  suffered  so  frequently  himself.  "  In  reverence,"  says 
he,  "  to  God,  the  father  of  light  and  spirits,  the  author  as 
well  as  object  of  all  divine  knowledge,  faith,  and  worship, 
I  do,  for  me  and  mine,  declare  and  establish  for  the  first 
fundamental  of  the  government  of  my  province,  that 
every  person  that  doth  and  shall  reside  therein  shall  have 
and  enjoy  the  free  possession  of  his  or  her  faith  and  exer 
cise  of  worship  towards  God,  in  such  way  and  manner  as 
every  such  person  shall  in  conscience  believe  is  most  ac 
ceptable  to  God.  And  so  long  as  every  such  person  useth 
not  this  Christian  liberty  to  licentiousness  or  the  destruc 
tion  of  others,  that  is  to  say,  to  speak  loosely  and  pro 
fanely  or  contemptuously  of  God,  Christ,  the  Holy  Scrip 
tures,  or  religion,  or  commit  any  moral  evil  or  injury 
against  others  in  their  conversation,  he  or  she  shall  be 
protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  aforesaid  Christian  lib 
erty  by  the  civil  magistrate." 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  2-13 

The  merchants  and  adventurers  were  well  pleased  with 
I  hem,  and  unanimously  signed  them.  Nor  was  William 
Perm  less  satisfied  as  having  done  his  duty  in  proposing 
them,  if  we  may  judge  from  a  letter  to  R.  Turner,  which 
he  wrote  just  at  the  time  when  he  had  resolved  upon 
them.  "  I  have  been,"  says  he,  "  these  thirteen  years  the 
servant  of  Truth  and  Friends,  and  for  my  testimony's 
sake  lost  much — not  only  the  greatness  and  preferment 
of  this  world,  but  sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  my  estate, 
which,  had  I  not  been  what  I  am,  I  had  long  ago  obtained. 
But  I  murmur  not.  The  Lord  is  good  to  me,  and  the  in 
terest  his  truth  has  given  me  with  his  people  may  more 
than  repair  it;  for  many  are  drawn  forth  to  be  concerned 
with  me,  and  perhaps  this  way  of  satisfaction  hath  more 
the  hand  of  God  in  it  than  a  downright  payment.  This 
I  can  say,  that  I  had  an  opening  of  joy  as  to  these  parts 
in  the  year  1001,  at  Oxford,  twenty  years  since;  and  as 
my  understanding  and  inclinations  have  been  much  directed 
to  observe  and  reprove  mischiefs  in  government,  so  it  is 
now  put  into  my  power  to  settle  one.  For  the  matters  of 
liberty  and  privilege  (alluding  to  these  articles),  I  purpose 
that  which  is  extraordinary,  and  leave  myself  and  suc 
cessors  no  power  of  doing  mischief,  that  the  will  of  one 
man  may  not  hinder  the  good  of  a  whole  country." 

In  a  letter,  dated  September  4th,  '81,  to  Robert  Turner, 
he  says,  "  I  did  refuse  a  great  temptation  last  Second  day, 
which  was  £0000,  and  pay  the  Indians  for  six  shares,  and 
make  the  purchasers  a  company,  to  have  wholly  to  itself 
the  Indian  trade  from  south  to  north,  between  Susquchanna 
and  Delaware  rivers,  paying  me  2£  per  cent,  acknowledg 
ment  or  rent ;  but  as  the  Lord  gave  it  me  over  all  and 


2-M  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

great  opposition,  and  that  I  never  had  my  mind  so  exer 
cised  to  the  Lord  about  any  outward  substance,  I  would 
not  abuse  his  love,  nor  act  unworthy  of  his  providence, 
and  so  defile  what  came  to  me  clean.  No ;  let  the  Lord 
guide  me  by  his  wisdom,  and  preserve  me  to  honor  his 
name  and  serve  his  Truth  and  people,  that  an  example  and 
standard  may  be  set  up  to  the  nations ;  there  may  be  room 
there  though  none  here." 

James  Claypole,  who  was  largely  interested  in  the  colony, 
says,  in  a  letter  of  that  time,  "  William  Penn  does  not 
intend  starting  for  Pennsylvania  till  next  spring ;  and  then 
it  is  likely  there  will  be  many  people  ready  to  go  from 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  He  is  offered  great  things : 
£6000  for  a  monopoly  in  trade,  which  he  refused,  and  for 
islands  and  particular  places,  great  sums  of  money ;  but 
he  designs  to  do  things  equally  between  all  parties,  and  I 
believe  truly  does  aim  more  at  justice  and  righteousness 
and  spreading  of  Truth  than  at  his  own  particular  gain. 
I  tried  him  about  the  proposals  to  take  £100  for  5000 
acres  and  abate  the  quit-rent,  which  he  refused,  intending 
to  do  equal  by  all." 

Three  commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  proprietary 
to  lay  out  a  town  and  treat  with  the  Indians.  His  letter 
of  instructions  to  them  contains  these  among  other  wise 
directions: 

"  Be  impartially  just  and  courteous  to  all ;  that  is  both 
pleasing  to  the  Lord  and  wise  in  itself. 

"  Be  tender  of  offending  the  Indians,  and  hearken  by 
honest  spies,  if  you  can  hear  that  anybody  inveigles  them 
not  to  sell,  or  to  stand  off  and  raise  the  value  upon  you. 
You  cannot  want  those  that  will  inform  you  ;  but  to  soften 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXN.  24:5 

them  to  me,  and  the  people,  let  them  know  that  you  arc 
( oine  to  sit  down  lovingly  among  them.  Let  my  letter 
and  conditions,  with  my  purchasers  about  just  dealing 
with  them,  be  read  In  their  tongue,  that  they  may  see  we 
have  their  good  in  our  eye,  equal  with  our  own  interest ; 
and,  after  reading  my  letter  and  the  said  conditions,  then 
present  their  kings  with  what  I  send  them,  and  make  a 
friendship  and  league  with  them  according  to  those  con 
ditions,  which  carefully  observe  and  get  them  to  comply 
with.  Be  grave  ;  they  love  not  to  be  smiled  on. 

"  Be  sure  to  settle  the  figure  of  the  town  so  as  that  the 
streets  hereafter  may  be  uniform  down  to  the  water  from 
the  country  bounds. 

"  Let  every  house  be  placed,  if  the  person  pleases,  in  the 
middle  of  its  plat,  as  to  the  breadth-way  of  it,  that  so  there 
may  be  ground  on  each  side  for  gardens  or  orchards  or 
fields,  that  it  may  be  a  green  country  town,  which  will 
never  be  burnt  and  always  wholesome." 

The  conditions  and  frame  of  government  having  been 
mutually  signed,  three  ships  full  of  passengers  set  sail  for 
Pennsylvania — two  from  London  and  one  from  Bristol. 
It  appears  that  the  John  and  Sarah  from  London  arrived 
first,  and  the  Bristol  Factor  the  next.  The  last  vessel  ar 
rived  at  the  place  where  Chester  now  stands.  Here  the 
passengers,  seeing  some  houses,  went  on  shore  ;  and  here, 
the  river  being  frozen  up  that  night,  they  remained  all 
the  winter.  The  other  London  ship,  the  Amity,  did  not 
arrive  at  the  province  till  the  spring,  of  the  next  year. 

In  one  of  these  ships  went  Colonel  William  Markham. 
lie  was  a  relation  of  William  Penn,  and  was  to  be  his 
secretary  when   he   himself   should  arrive.     He  was  at 
21* 


246  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

tended  by  several  commissioners,  whose  object  was  to 
confer  with  the  Indians  respecting  their  lands,  and  to 
endeavor  to  make  with  them  a  league  of  eternal  peace. 
With  this  view  they  were  enjoined  in  a  solemn  manner 
to  treat  them  with  all  possible  candor,  justice,  and  hu 
manity.  They  were  tfcc  bearers  also  of  a  letter  to  them, 
which  William  Pcnn  wrote  with  his  own  hand,  and  of 
which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

"  There  is  a  great  God  and  power,  which  hath  made 
the  world  and  all  things  therein,  to  whom  you  and  I  and 
all  people  owe  their  being  and  well-being,  and  to  whom 
you  and  I  must  one  day  give  an  account  for  all  that  we 
have  done  in  this  world. 

"  This  great  God  has  written  his  law  in  our  hearts,  by 
which  we  are  taught  and  commanded  to  love,  and  to  help, 
and  to  do  good  to  one  another.  Now  this  great  God  hath 
been  pleased  to  make  me  concerned  in  your  part  of  the 
world,  and  the  king  of  the  country  where  I  live  hath 
given  me  a  great  province  therein.  But  I  desire  to  enjoy 
it  with  your  love  and  consent,  that  we  may  always  live 
together  as  neighbors  and  friends  ;  else  what  would  the 
great  God  do  to  us,  who  hath  made  us,  not  to  devour  and 
destroy  one  another,  but  to  live  soberly  and  kindly  to 
gether  in  the  world  ?  Now  I  would  have  you  well  observe 
that  I  am  very  sensible  of  the  unkindncss  and  injustice 
which  have  been  too  much  exercised  towards  you  by  the 
people  of  these  parts  of  the  world,  who  have  sought 
themselves  to  make  great  advantages  by  you,  rather  than 
to  be  examples  of  goodness  and  patience  unto  you.  This 
I  hear  hath  been  a  matter  of  trouble  to  you,  and  causal 
great  grudging  and  animosities,  sometimes  to  the  she:!- 


O  F     W  I  L  L  I  A  M     P  E  N  N  .  247 

ding  of  blood ;  which  hath  made  the  great  God  angry, 
But  I  am  not  such  a  man,  as  is  well  known  in  my  own 
country.  I  have  great  love  and  regard  towards  you,  and 
dosire  to  win  and  gain  your  love  and  friendship  by  a  kind, 
just,  and  peaceable  life ;  and  the  people  I  send  are  of  the 
same  mind,  and  shall  in  all  things  behave  themselves  ac 
cordingly  ;  and  if  in  anything  any  shall  offend  you  or 
your  people,  you  shall  have  a  full  and  speedy  satisfaction 
for  the  same,  by  an  equal  number  of  just  men  on  both 
sides,  that  by  no  means  you  may  have  just  occasion  of 
being  offended  against  them. 

"  I  shall  shortly  come  to  see  you  myself,  at  which  time 
we  may  more  largely  and  freely  confer  and  discourse  of 
these  matters.  In  the  meantime  I  have  sent  my  commis 
sioners  to  treat  with  you  about  land  and  a  firm  league  of 
peace.  Let  me  desire  you  to  be-  kind  to  them  and  to  the 
people,  and  receive  the  presents  and  tokens  which  I  have 
sent  to  you,  as  a  testimony  of  my  good  will  to  you,  and 
of  my  resolution  to  live  justly,  peaceably,  and  friendly 
with  you. 

"I  am  your  loving  Friend,  WILLIAM  PENN." 

About  this  time  William  Penn  was  elected  a  Fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society.  He  had  before  been  acquainted  with 
the  celebrated  Dr.  John  Wallis,  who  had  been  one  of  the 
chief  instruments  in  founding  it;  but  in  the  present  year 
hi?  wrote  him  a  letter,  in  which  he  expressed  to  him  the 
satisfaction  he  felt  on  hearing  of  the  progress  of  the  insti 
tution,  as  well  as  the  high  opinion  he  entertained  of  the 
advantages  which  would  result  to  science  from  its  labors, 
and  in  which  (now  going  out  to  Pennsylvania)  he  of- 


248  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

fercd  to  contribute  to  its  usefulness  to  the  utmost  of  big 
power. 

Among  the  letters  which  be  wrote  this  year  to  private 
persons,  was  one  to  Robert  Yickris,  who  lived  at  Chow  in 
Somersetshire,  who  had  a  son  who  became  a  Quaker,  and 
afterwards  an  eminent  sufferer  in  that  society.  His  father 
adhered  to  his  own  religion,  but  he  did  not  persecute  his 
son  for  having  left  it.  This  made  such  an  impression  on 
William  Penn,  who  had  suffered  so  much  from  his  father 
on  that  account,  that  he  loved  Robert  as  a  brother,  and 
wrote  him  the  folio wino*  short  letter: 


"DEAR  FRIEND: — In  my  dear  and  heavenly  farewell  to 
the  city  of  Bristol  thou  wert  often  upon  my  spirit,  and 
the  wishes  of  my  soul  are  that  the  Lord  would  abundantly 
(ill  thee  with  the  consolations  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  that 
in  the  days  thou  hast  to  pass  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  thou 
mayest  be  fitted  for  his  coming,  that  comes  as  a  thief  in 
the  night,  that  at  what  watch  of  the  night  soever  it  be,  thou 
mayest  awake  with  his  likeness,  and  enter  the  rest  that  is 
eternal.  So  the  Lord  more  and  more  gather  thec  out  of 
every  visible,,  fading  thing,  and  prepare  thee  for  himself. 
Dear  friend,  be  faithful  to  that  appearance  of  God  and 
manifestation  of  the  love  of  the  Lord  to  thy  soul  that  visits 
thee.  The  Lord  is  near  thee,  with  thee,  and  in  thee,  to 
enlighten,  melt,  and  refresh  thee.  ?Tis  his  presence,  not 
seen  or  felt  of  the  wicked,  that  gathers  and  revives  the 
soul  that  seeks  Him.  So  the  Lord  be  with  thee,  and 
remember  into  thy  bosom  the  sincere  love  thou  hast 
shown  to  thy  son  and  his  friends.  I  say  no  more,  but  in 
the  Lord  farewell. 

"  Thy  truly  affectionate  Friend,        WILLIAM  PENN." 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  249 

About  this  time  his  mother,  to  whom  he  was  most 
affectionately  attached,  died.  He  was  so  affected  by  her 
death  that  he  was  ill  for  some  days,  as  appears  by  a  letter 
which  has  come  down  to  us,  which  he  wrote  at  this  time. 
Its  conciseness  and  tone  bespeak  a  chastened  spirit  occu 
pied  with  its  own  grief. 

"  DEAR  FRIEND  : — Both  thy  letters  came  in  a  few  days 
one  of  the  other.  My  sickness  upon  my  mother's  death, 
who  was  last  Seventh  day  interred,  permitted  me  not  to 
answer  thce  so  soon  as  desired ;  but  on  a  serious  weigh 
ing  of  thy  inclinations,  and  perceiving  thy  uneasiness 
under  my  constrained  silence,  it  is  most  clear  to  me  to 
counsel  thee  to  sink  down  into  the  seasoning,  settling  gift 
of  God,  and  to  wait  to  distinguish  between  thy  own  de 
sires  and  the  Lord's  requirings." 

Having  paid  the  last  earthly  offices  of  respect  to  his 
mother,  he  began  to  turn  his  mind  to  his  American  con 
cerns.  The  first  thing  he  did  was  to  publish  the  frame 
of  government  or  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania  before 
mentioned.  To  this  he  added  a  noble  preface,  containing 
his  thoughts  upon  the  origin,  nature,  object,  and  modes 
of  government,  most  of  which  is  appended : 

"When  the  great  and  wise  God  had  made  the  world,  of 
all  his  creatures  it  pleased  Him  to  choose  man  his  deputy 
to  rule  it,  and  to  fit  him  for  so  great  a  charge  and  trust, 
He  did  not  only  qualify  him  with  skill  and  power,  but 
with  integrity  to  use  them  justly.  This  native  goodness 
was  equally  his  honor  and  his  happiness ;  and,  whilst  he 
stood  here,  all  went  well,  there  was  no  need  of  coercive  cr 


PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

compulsive  means.  The  precept  of  divine  love  and  truth 
in  his  bosom  was  the  guide  and  keeper  of  his  innocency. 
But  lust,  prevailing  against  duty,  made  a  lamentable 
breach  upon  it,  and  the  law,  that  had  before  no  power 
over  him,  took  place  upon  him  and  his  disobedient  poster 
ity,  that  such  as  would  not  live  conformable  to  the  holy 
law  within,  should  fall  under  the  reproof  and  correction 
of  the  just  law  without  in  a  judicial  administration. 

"  This  the  apostle  teaches  in  divers  of  his  epistles.  'Let 
every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers.  The  powers 
that  be  are  ordained  of  God.  Rulers  are  not  a  terror  to 
good  works,  but  to  evil.  He  is  the  minister  of  God  to 
thee  for  good.  Wherefore  ye  must  needs  be  subject,  not 
only  for  wrath,  but  for  conscience'  sake.' 

"  This  settles  the  divine  right  of  government  beyond 
exception,  and  that  for  two  ends,  first,  to  terrify  evil 
doers  ;  secondly,  to  cherish  those  that  do  well ;  which' 
gives  government  a  life  beyond  corruption,  and  makes  it 
as  durable  in  the  world  as  good  men  shall  be,  so  that 
government  seems  to  me  a  part  of  religion  itself,  a  thing 
sacred  in  its  institution  and  end  ;  forjfif  it  does  not  directly 
remove  the  cause,  it  crushes  the  effects  of  evil,  and  is,  as 
such,  though  a  lower,  yet  an  emanation  of  the  same  divine 
power  that  is  both  author  and  object  of  pure  religion.  The 
difference  lying  here,  that  the  one  is  more  free  and  men 
tal,  the  other  more  corporal  and  compulsive  in  its  opcraT 
tion  ;  but  that  is  only  to  evil-doers,  government  itself 
being  otherwise  as  capable  of  kindness,  goodness,  and 
charity  as  a  more  private  society.  They  weakly  err  who 
think  there  is  no  other  use  of  government  than  correction, 
which  is  the  coarsest  part  of  it.  Daily  experience  tells  us 


OF    WILLIAM    PENX.  251 

that  the  care  and  regulation  of  many  other  affairs,  more 
soft  and  daily  necessary,  make  up  much  the  greatest  part 
of  government,  and  which  must  have  followed  the  peopling 
of  the  world  hud  Adam  never  fallen,  and  will  continue 
among  men  on  earth  under  the  highest  attainments  they 
may  arrive  at  by  the  coming  of  the  blessed  second  Adam, 
the  Lord  from  heaven.  Thus  much  of  government  in  gen 
eral  as  to  its  rise  and  end. 

"  For  particular  frames  and  models  it  will  become  me  to 
say  little.  I  do  not  find  a  model  in  the  world,  that  time, 
place,  and  some  singular  emergencies  have  not  necessarily 
altered;  nor  is  it  easy  to  frame  a  civil  government  that  / 
shnll  serve  all  places  alike.  I  know  what  is  said  by  the 
several  admirers  of  monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  democracy, 
which  are  the  rule  of  one,  of  a  few,  and  of  many,  and  are 
the  three  common  ideas  of  government  when  men  dis 
course  on  that  subject.  But  I  choose  to  solve  the  contro 
versy  with  this  small  distinction,  and  it  belongs  to  all 
three.  Any  government  is  free  to  the  people  under  it, 
whatever  be  the  frame,  where  the  laws  rule  and  the  peo 
ple  are  a  party  to  those  laws;  and  more  than  this  is  tyr 
anny,  oligarchy,  and  confusion. 

"  But,  when  all  is  said,  there  is  hardly  one  frame  of 
government  in  the  world  so  ill  designed  by  its  first  founders 
that  in  good  hands  would  not  do  well  enough  ;  and  story  l 
tells  us  that  the  best  in  ill  ones  can  do  nothing  that  is  great 
and  good.  Wherefore,  governments  rather  depend  upon 
men  than  men  upon  governments.  Let  men  be  good  and 
the  government  cannot  be  bad.  If  it  be  ill  they  will  cure 
it.  But  if  men  be  bad,  let  the  government  be  never  so 
good,  they  will  endeavor  to  warp  and  spoil  it  to  their  turn. 


252  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

"  That  which  makes  a  good  constitution  must  keep  it ; 
namely,  men  of  wisdom  and  virtue,  qualities  that,  because 
they  descend  not  with  worldly  inheritances,  must  be  care 
fully  propagated  by  a  virtuous  education  of  youth,  for 
which  after  ages  will  owe  more  to  the  care  and  prudence 
of  founders  and  the  successive  magistracy  than  to  their 
parents  for  their  private  patrimonies. 

"  We  have,  with  reverence  to  God  and  good  conscience 
to  men,  to  the  best  of  our  skill,  contrived  and  composed 
the  frame  and  laws  of  this  Government  to  the  great  end 
of  government,  to  support  power  in  reverence  with  the 
people,  and  to  secure  the  people  from  the  abuse  of  power, 
that  they  may  be  free  by  their  just  obedience,  and  the 
magistrates  honorable  for  their  just  administration ;  for 
liberty  without  obedience  is  confusion,  and  obedience  with 
out  liberty  is  slavery. 

"  To  carry  this  evenness  is  partly  owing  to  the  constitu 
tion  and  partly  to  the  magistracy.  Where  either  of  these 
fail  government  will  be  subject  to  convulsions,  but  where 
both  are  wanting,  it  must  be  totally  subverted  ;  then  where 
both  meet,  the  government  is  like  to  endure;  which  I 
humbly  pray  and  hope  God  will  please  to  make  the  lot  of 
this  of  Pennsylvania.  Amen." 

Of  the  laws  agreed  upon  and  published  with  the  frame  of 
government,  two  or  three  partake  of  a  religious  character: 

"  That  all  persons  living  in  the  province  who  confess 
and  acknowledge  the  one  Almighty  and  eternal  God  to  be 
the  Creator,  Upholder,  and  Ruler  of  the  world,  and  that 
hold  themselves  obliged  in  conscience  to  live  peaceably 
and  justly  in  civil  society,  shall  in  no  ways  be  molested 
or  prejudiced  for  their  religious  persuasion  or  practice  in 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  253 

matters  of  faith  and  worship;  nor  shall  they  be  compelled, 
at  any  time,  to  frequent  or  maintain  any  religious  worship, 
place,  or  ministry  whatever. 

"  That,  according  to  the  good  example  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  and  the  ease  of  the  creation,  every  First-day 
of  the  week,  called  the  Lord's-day,  people  shall  abstain  from 
their  common  daily  labor,  that  they  may  better  dispose 
themselves  to  worship  God  according  to  their  under 
standings. 

"  That  as  a  careless  and  corrupt  administration  of  justice 
draws  the  wrath  of  God  upon  magistrates,  so  the  wildness 
and  looseness  of  the  people  provoke  the  indignation  of  God 
against  the  country  ;  therefore,  that  all  such  offences  against 
God  as  swearing,  cursing,  lying,  profane  talking,  drunken 
ness,  drinking  of  healths,  obscene  words,  and  several  other 
scandalous  acts  particularly  named  ;  treasons,  misprisions, 
duels,  murders,  felony,  sedition,  maims,  forcible  entries, 
and  other  violences  to  the  persons  and  estates  of  the  in 
habitants  of  the  province  ;  all  prizes,  stage-plays,  cards, 
dice,  may-games,  gamesters,  masques,  revels,  bull-baitings, 
cock-fightings,  bear-baitings,  and  the  like,  which  excite  the 
people  to  rudeness,  cruelty,  and  irrcligion,  shall  be  respec 
tively  discouraged  and  severely  punished  according  to  the 
appointment  of  the  Governor  and  freemen  in  provincial 
council  and  general  assembly."  This  system  was  signed 
by  the  Governor  and  freemen  in  the  Third  month,  1682. 

The  grant  of  territory  which  had  been  made  to  James, 
Duke  of  York,  having  given  him  some  claim,  though  at 
best  a  very  doubtful  one,  to  the  tract  included  within  the 
limits  of  Pennsylvania,  William  Penn,  previous  to  enter 
ing  himself  upon  his  new  possession,  obtained  from  the 
22 


254:  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

duke  a  full  release  of  all  his  claims  upon  the  province. 
This  deed  was  dated  the  20th  of  August,  1C 82.  He  also 
obtained  in  the  same  year,  by  two  separate  deeds  from  the 
duke,  a  grant  of  the  tract  on  the  Delaware  river  and  bay, 
commonly  termed  the  three  lower  counties,  now  the  State 
of  Delaware.  This  grant  was  obtained  to  secure  the  free 
use  of  the  river,  and  to  prevent  the  trouble  which  might 
probably  arise  from  the  access  to  the  province  being  in  the 
possession  "of  another. 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  255 


XIII. 

WILLIAM  PENN  having  completed  his  preparations 
for  a  voyage  to  America,  went,  in  the  Sixth  month 
of  this  year,  1682,  on  board  the  ship  Welcome,  of  three 
hundred  tons,  Robert  Grecnaway  commander ;  and  on  the 
30th  of  the  month  addressed  a  valedictory  epistle  to  his 
friends  in  England.  He  also  wrote  the  following  letter  to 
Stephen  Crisp,  a  valuable  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  his  own 
religious  society. 

"DEAR  STEPHEN  CRISP: — My  dear  and  lasting  love  in 
the  Lord's  everlasting  Truth  reaches  to  thce,  with  whom 
is  my  fellowship  in  the  Gospel  of  peace  that  is  more  dear 
and  precious  to  my  soul  than  all  the  treasures  and  pleasures 
of  this  world ;  for  when  a  few  years  are  passed  we  shall 
all  go  the  way  whence  we  shall  never  return  ;  and  that  we 
may  unweariedly  serve  the  Lord  in  our  day  and  place,  and 
in  the  end  enjoy  a  portion  with  the  blessed  that  are  at  rest, 
is  the  breathing  of  my  soul ! 

"  Stephen  !  we  know  one  another  and  I  need  not  say 
much  to  thcc  ;  but  this  I  will  say,  thy  parting  dwells  with 
me,  or  rather,  thy  love  at  my  parting.  How  innocent,  how 
tender,  how  like  the  little  child  that  has  no  guile !  The 
Lord  will  bless  that  ground  (Pennsylvania).  I  have  also 
a  letter  from  thee  which  comforted  me  ;  for  many  are  my 
trials,  yet  not  more  than  my  supplies  from  my  heavenly 


256  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

Father,  whose  glory  I  seek,  and  the  renown  of  his  blessed 
name.  And  truly,  Stephen,  there  is  work  enough,  and 
here  is  room  to  work  in.  Surely  God  will  come  in  for  a 
share  in  this  planting-work,  and  that  leaven  shall  leaven 
the  lump  in  time.  1  do  not  believe  the  Lord's  providence 
had  run  this  way  towards  me,  but  that  he  has  an  heavenly 
end  and  service  in  it ;  so  with  Him  I  leave  all,  and  myself, 
and  thee,  and  his  dear  people,  and  blessed  name  on  earth. 

"  God  Almighty,  immortal  and  eternal,  be  with  us,  that 
in  the  body  and  out  of  the  body  we  may  be  his  forever ! 

"  I  am,  in  the  ancient  dear  fellowship, 

"  Thy  faithful  friend  and  brother, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

As  this  voyage  and  residence  in  America  were  likely  to 
keep  him  separated  from  his  family  during  a  considerable 
time,  he  left  behind  him  a  letter  addressed  to  his  wife  and 
children,  valuable  for  its  wisdom  as  well  as  beautiful  for 
its  simplicity  and  patriarchal  spirit. 

"  MY  DEAR  WIFE  AND  CHILDREN  :— My  love,  wrhich 
neither  sea  nor  land  nor  death  itself  can  extinguish  or 
lessen  toward  you,  most  end  early  visits  you  with  eternal 
embraces,  and  will  abide  with  you  forever  ;  and  may  the 
God  of  my  life  watch  over  you  and  bless  you,  and  do  you 
good  in  this  world  and  forever !  Some  things  are  upon 
my  spirit  to  leave  with  you  in  your  respective  capacities, 
as  I  am  to  the  one  a  husband  and  to  the  rest  a  father,  if  I 
should  never  see  you  more  in  this  world. 

"  My  dear  wife,  remember  thou  wast  the  love  of  my 
youth,  and  much  the  joy  of  my  life ;  the  most  beloved  as 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  257 

well  as  most  worthy  of  all  my  earthly  comforts;  and  tho 
reason  of  that  love  was  more  thy  inward  than  thy  outward 
excellencies,  which  yet  were  many.  God  knows,  and  thou 
knowcst  it,  I  can  say  it  was  a  match  of  Providence's  mak 
in.ii' :  and  God's  image  in  us  both  was  the  first  thing,  and 
the  most  amiable  and  engaging  ornament  in  our  eyes. 
Now  I  am  to  leave  thce,  and  that  without  knowing 
whether  I  shall  ever  see  thee  more  in  this  world;  take 
my  counsel  into  thy  bosom  and  let  it  dwell  with  thee  in 
rny  stead  while  thou  livcst. 

"  First :  Let  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  a  zeal  and  love  to 
his  glory  dwell  richly  in  thy  heart;  and  thou  wilt  watch 
for  good  over  thyself  and  thy  dear  children  and  family, 
that  no  rude,  light,  or  bad  thing  be  committed ;  else  God 
will  be  offended,  and  He  wTill  repent  himself  of  the  good 
lie  intends  thee  and  thine. 

"  Secondly :  Be  diligent  in  meetings  for  worship  and 
business  ;  stir  up  thyself  and  others  herein  ;  it  is  thy  duty 
and  place  ;  and  let  meetings  be  kept  once  a  day  in  the 
family  to  wait  upon  the  Lord  who  has  given  us  much 
time  for  ourselves.  And,  my  dearest,  to  make  thy  family 
matters  easy  to  thce,  divide  thy  time  and  be  regular ;  it  is 
easy  and  sweet ;  thy  retirement  wrill  afford  thee  to  do  it ; 
as  in  the  morning  to  view  the  business  of  the  house  and 
fix  it  as  thou  desirest,  seeing  all  be  in  order ;  that  by  thy 
counsel  all  may  move,  and  to  thee  render  an  account  every 
evening.  The  time  for  work,  for  walking,  for  meals,  may 
be  certain— at  least  as  near  as  may  be;  and  grieve  not 
thyself  with  careless  servants  ;  they  will  disorder  thee ; 
rather  pay  them  and  let  them  go  if  they  will  not  be  better 
2:!*  R 


PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

by  admonitions ;  this  is  best  to  avoid  man}7"  words,  which 
I  know  wound  the  soul  and  offend  the  Lord. 

"Thirdly:  Cast  up  thy  income  and  see  what  it  daily 
amounts  to;  by  which  thou  mayest  be  sure  to  have  it  in 
thy  sight  and  power  to  keep  within  compass  ;  and  I  beseech 
thcc  to  live  low  and  sparingly  till  my  debts  are  paid ;  and 
then  enlarge  as  thou  seest  it  convenient.  Remember  thy 
mother's  example  when  thy  father's  public-spiritedness 
had  worsted  his  estate,  which  is  my  case.  I  know  thou 
lovest  plain  things,  and  art  averse  to  the  pomps  of  the 
world — a  nobility  natural  to  thee.  I  write  not  as  doubtful, 
but  to  quicken  thee,  for  my  sake,  to  be  vigilant  herein, 
knowing  that  God  will  bless  thy  care,  and  thy  poor  children 
and  thee  for  it.  My  mind  is  wrapt  up  in  a  saying  of  thy 
fathcrs,  'I  desire  not  riches,  but  to  owe  nothing;'  and 
truly  that  is  wealth  ;  and  more  than  enough  to  live  is  a 
snare  attended  with  many  sorrows.  I  need  not  bid  theo 
be  humble,  for  thou  art  so  ;  nor  meek  and  patient,  for  it  is 
much  of  thy  natural  disposition  ;  but  I  pray  thee  be  oft  in 
retirement  with  the  Lord,  and  guard  agrJnst  encroaching 
friendships.  Keep  them  at  arm's  end;  for  it  is  giving 
away  our  power,  aye,  and  self  too,  into  the  possession  of 
another ;  and  that  which  might  seem  engaging  in  the  be 
ginning  may  prove  a  yoke  and  burden  too  hard  and  heavy 
in  the" end,  Wherefore,  keep  dominion  over  thyself;  and 
let  thy  children,  good  meetings,  and  Friends  be  the  pleas 
ure  of  thy  life. 

"  Fourthly :  And  now,  my  dearest,  let  me  recommend 
to  thy  care  my  dear  children ;  abundantly  beloved  of  mo 
as  the 'Lord's  blessings,  and  the  sweet  pledges  of  our 
mutual  and  endeared  affection.  Above  aJl  things  endeavor 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  259 

to  breed  thorn  up  in  the  love  of  virtue,  and  that  holy  plain 
way  of  it  which  \ve  have  lived  in,  that  the  world  in  no  part 
of  it  get  into  my  family.  I  had  rather  they  were  homely 
ih  in  finely  bred  as  to  outward  behavior  ;  yet  I  love  sweet- 
lies-  mixed  with  gravity  and  cheerfulness  tempered  with 
sobriety.  Religion  in  the  heart  leads  into  this  true  civility, 
teaching  men  and  women  to  be  mild  and  courteous  in  their 
behavior,  an  accomplishment  worthy  indeed  of  praise. 

"  Fifthly:  Xext  breed  them  up  in  a  love  one  of  another. 
Tell  them  it  is  the  charge  I  left  behind  me,  and  that  it  is 
(he  way  to  have  the  love  and  blessing  of  God  upon  them  ; 
also  what  his  portion  is  who  hates,  or  calls  his  brother 
fool.  Sometimes  separate  them,  but  not  long;  and  allow 
them  to  send  and  give  each  other  small  things  to  endear 
one  another  with.  Once  more  I  say,  tell  them  it  was  my 
counsel  they  should  be  tender  and  affectionate  one  to 
another.  For  their  learning  be  liberal.  Spare  no  cost; 
for  by  such  parsimony  all  is  lost  that  is  saved;  but  let  it 
be  useful  knowledge,  such  as  is  consistent  with  truth  and 
godliness,  not  cherishing  a  vain  conversation  or  idle  mind  ; 
but  ingenuity  mixed  with  industry  is  good  for  the  body 
a, id  mind  too.  I  recommend  the  useful  parts  of  mathe 
matics,  as  building  houses  or  ships,  measuring,  survey 
ing,  dialing,  navigation;  but  agriculture  is  especially  in 
my  eye — let  my  children  be  husbandmen  and  housewives  ; 
it  is  industrious,  healthy,  honest,  and  of  good  example: 
like  AViiiham  ;.nd  the  holy  ancients,  who  pleased  God  and 
obtained  a  good  report.  This  leads  to  consider  the  works 
of  God  and  nature,  of  things  that  are  good,  and  diverts 
the  mind  from  being  taken  up  with  the  vain  arts  and  in 
ventions  of  a  luxurious  worid.  It  is  commendable  in  the 


260  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

princes  of  Germany  and  the  nobles  of  that  empire,  that 
they  have  all  their  children  instructed  in  some  useful  oc 
cupation.  Rather  keep  an  ingenious  person  in  the  house 
to  teach  them,  than  send  them  to  schools,  too  many  evil 
impressions  being*  common  y  received  there.  Be  sure  to 
observe  their  genius,  and  do  not  cross  it  as  to  learning : 
let  them  not  dwell  too  long  on  one  thing ;  but  let  their 
change  be  agreeable,  and  all  their  diversions  have  somo 
little  bodily  labor  in  them.  When  grown  big,  have  most 
care  for  them  ;  for  then  there  are  more  snares  both  within 
and  without.  When  marriageable,  see  that  they  have 
worthy  persons  in  their  eye,  of  good  life,  and  good  fame 
for  piety  and  understanding.  I  need  no  wealth,  but  suf 
ficiency  ;  and  be  sure  their  love  be  dear,  fervent,  and  mu 
tual,  that  it  may  be  happy  for  them.  I  choose  not  they 
should  be  married  to  earthly,  covetous  kindred.  And  of 
cities  and  towns  of  concourse  beware  ;  the  world  is  apt  to 
stick  close  to  those  who  have  lived  and  got  wealth  there ; 
a  country  life  and  estate  I  like  best  for  my  children.  I 
prefer  a  decent  mansion,  of  an  hundred  pounds  per  an 
num,  before  ten  thousand  pounds  in  London,  or  such  like 
place,  in  a  way  of  trade.  In  fine,  my  dear,  endeavor  to 
breed  them  dutiful  to  the  Lord,  and  his  blessed  light, 
truth,  and  grace  in  their  hearts,  who  is  their  Creator,  and 
his  fea-r  will  grow  up  with  them.  Teach  a  child,  says  tho 
wise  man,  the  way  thou  wilt  have  him  to  walk,  and  when 
he  is  old  he  will  not  forget  it.  Next,  obedience  to  thea, 
thoir  dear  mother;  and  that  not  for  wrath,  but  for  con 
science'  sake;  liberal  to  the  poor,  pitiful  to  tl)3  miserable, 
humble  and  kind  to  all ;  and  may  my  God  make  thee  a 
blessing,  and  give  thee  comfort  in  our  dear  children ;  and 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  261 

in  age  gather  thee  to  the  joy  and  blessedness  of  the  just, 
where  no  death  shall  separate  us  forever ! 

"  And  now,  my  dear  children,  that  are  the  gifts  and 
mercies  of  the  God  of  your  tender  father,  hear  ray  coun 
sel,  and  lay  it  up  in  your  hearts;  love  it  more  than  treas 
ure,  and  follow  it,  and  you  shall  be  blessed  here  and  happy 
hereafter. 

"  In  the  first  place,  remember  your  Creator  in  the  days 
of  your  youth.  It  was  the  glory  of  Israel  in  the  second 
of  Jeremiah  ;  and  how  did  God  bless  Josiah  because  he 
feared  Him  in  his  youth !  and  so  he  did  Jacob,  Joseph, 
and  Moses.  0  my  dear  children,  remember  and  fear  and 
serve  Him  who  made  you  and  gave  you  to  me  and  your 
dear  mother ;  that  you  may  live  to  Him  and  glorify  Him 
in  your  generations ! 

'•'To  do  this,  in  your  youthful  days  seek  after  the  Lord, 
that  you  may  find  Him ;  remembering  his  great  love  in 
creating  you ;  that  you  are  not  beasts,  plants,  or  stones, 
but  that  He  has  kept  you,  and  given  you  his  grace  within, 
and  substance  without,  and  provided  plentifully  for  you. 
This  remember  in  your  youth,  that  you  may  be  kept  from 
the  evil  of  the  world ;  for  in  age  it  will  be  harder  to  over 
come  the  temptations  .of  it. 

"Wherefore,  my  dear  children,  eschew  the  appearance 
of  evil,  and  love  and  cleave  to  that  in  your  hearts  which 
shows  you  evil  from  good,  and  tells  you  when  you  do 
amiss,  and  reproves  you  for  it.  It  is  the  light  of  Christ 
that  He  has  given  you  for  your  salvation.  If  you  do  this, 
and  follow  my  counsel,  God  will  bless  you  in  this  world, 
and  give  you  an  inheritance  in  that  which  shall  never 
have  an  end.  For  the  light  of  Jesua  is  of  a  purifying 


262  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

nnturc;  it  seasons  those  who  love  it  and  take  heed  to  it, 
and  never  .leaves  such  till  it  has  brought  them  to  the  city 
of  God,  that  has  foundations.  0  that  ye  raay  be  seasoned 
with  the  gracious  nature  of  it  !  hide  it  in  your  hearts,  a;:d 
flee,  my  dear  children,  from  all  youthful  lusts;  the  vain 
sports,  pastimes,  and  pleasures  of  the  world  ;  redeeming 
the  lime  because  the  days  arc  evil ! — You  are  now  begin 
ning  to  live — what  would  some  give  for  your  time  ?  Oh, 
I  could  have  lived  better,  were  I,  as  you,  in  the  flower  of 
youth!  Therefore  love  and  fear  the  Lord,  keep  close  to 
meetings,  and  delight  to  wait  on  the  Lord  God  of  your 
father  and  mother,  among  his  despised  people,  as  we  have 
done;  and  count  it  your  honor  to  be  members  of  that  So 
ciety,  and  heirs  of  that  living  fellowship  which  is  enjoyed 
among  them,  for  the  experience  of  which  your  father's 
soul  blesseth  the  Lord  forever. 

"  Next,  be  obedient  to  your  dear  mother,  a  woman 
whose  virtue  and  good  name  is  an  honor  to  you;  for  she 
hath  been  exceeded  by  none  in  her  time  for  her  plainness, 
integrity,  industry,  humanity,  virtue,  and  good  under 
standing;  qualities  not  usual  among  women  of  her 
worldly  condition  and  quality.  Therefore,  honor  and 
obey  her,  my  dear  children,  as  }Tour  mother,  and  your 
father's  love  and  delight ;  nay,  love  her,  too,  for  she  loved 
your  father  with  a  deep  and  upright  love,  choosing  him 
before  all  her  many  suitors;  and  though  she  be  of  a  deli 
cate  constitution  and  noble  spirit,  yet  she  descended  to  the 
utmost  tenderness  and  care  for  you,  performing  the  pain- 
fulest  acts  of  service  to  you  in  your  infancy,  as  a  mother 
and  a  nurse,  too.  I  charge  you,  before  the  Lord,  hor.or 
and  obey,  love  and  cherish  your  dear  mother. 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  263 

"  Next,  betake  yourselves  to  some  honest,  industrious 
course  of  life,  and  that  not  of  sordid  covetousness,  but  for 
example  and  to  avoid  idleness.  And  if  you  change  your 
condition,  and  marry,  choose  with  the  knowledge  and  con 
sent  of  your  mother,  if  living,  or  of  guardians  or  those 
that  have  charge  of  you.  Mind  neither  beauty  nor  riches, 
but  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  a  sweet  and  amiable  dispo 
sition,  such  as  you  can  love  above  all  this  world,  and  that 
may  make  your  habitations  pleasant  and  desirable  to 
you. 

"  And,  being  married,  be  tender,  affectionate,  patient, 
and  meek.  Live  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  lie  will 
bless  you  and  your  offspring.  Be  sure  to  live  within  com 
pass  ;  borrow  not,  neither  be  beholden  to  any.  Ruin  not 
yourselves  by  kindness  to  others;  for  that  exceeds  the 
due  bounds  of  friendship,  neither  will  a  true  friend  expect 
it.  Small  matters  I  heed  not. 

"  Let  your  industry  and  parsimony  go  no  further  than 
tor  a  sufficiency  for  life,  and  to  make  a  provision  for  your 
children,  and  that  in  moderation,  if  the  Lord  gives  you 
any.  I  charge  you  help  the  poor  and  needy  ;  let  the  Lord 
have  a  voluntary  share  of  your  income  for  the  good  of  the 
poor,  both  in  our  Society  and  others;  for  we  are  all  his 
creatures ;  remembering  that  '  he  that  giveth  to  the  poor 
Ion  (let  h  to  the  Lord.' 

"  Know  well  your  incomings,  and  your  outgoings  may 
be  better  regulated.  Love  not  money  nor  the  world ;  use 
them  only,  and  they  will  serve  you  ;  but  if  you  love  them 
you  serve  them,  which  will  debase  your  spirits  as  well  as 
offend  the  Lord. 

"  Pity  the  d/ stressed,  and  hold  out  a  hand  of  help  tc 


264  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

them ;  it  may  be  your  case ;  and  as  you  mete  to  others 
God  will  mete  to  you  again. 

"  Be  humble  and  gentle  in  your  conversation  ;  of  few 
words,  I  charge  you ;  but  always  pertinent  when  you 
speak,  hearing  out  before  you  attempt  to  answer,  and 
then  speaking  as  if  you  would  persuade,  not  impose. 

"Affront  none,  neither  revenge  the  affronts  that  are 
done  to  you ;  but  forgive,  and  you  shall  be  forgiven  of 
your  heavenly  Father. 

"  In  making  friends  consider  well  first ;  and  when  you 
are  fixed  be  true,  not  wavering  by  reports  nor  deserting 
in  affliction,  for  that  becomes  not  the  good  and  virtuous. 

"  Watch  against  anger,  neither  speak  nor  act  in  it ;  for, 
like  drunkenness,  it  makes  a  man  a  beast,  and  throws  peo 
ple  into  desperate  inconveniences. 

"  Avoid  flatterers,  for  they  are  thieves  in  disguise  ;  their 
praise  is  costly,  designing  to  get  by  those  they  bespeak ; 
they  are  the  worst  of  creatures ;  they  lie  to  flatter,  arid 
flatter  to  cheat ;  and,  which  is  worse,  if  you  believe  them 
you  cheat  yourselves  most  dangerously.  But  the  virtu 
ous,  though  poor,  love,  cherish,  and  prefer.  Remember 
David,  who  asking  the  Lord,  '  Who  shall  abide  in  thy  tab 
ernacle  ?  who  shall  dwell  upon  thy  holy  hill  ? '  answers, 
'  He  that  walketh  uprightly,  worketh  righteousness,  arid 
speaketh  the  truth  in  his  heart ;  in  whose  eyes  the  vile 
person  is  contemned,  but  honoreth  them  that  fear  the 
Lord.' 

"  Next,  my  children,  be  temperate  in  all  things  ;  in  your 
diet,  for  that  is  physic  by  prevention ;  it  keeps,  nay,  it 
makes  people  healthy,  and  their  generation  sound.  This 
is  exclusive  of  the  spiritual  ad  vantage  it  brings.  Be  also 


OF  WILLIAM  PENX.  265 

plain  in  your  apparel ;  keep  out  that  lust  wl.ich  reigns  too 
much  over  some  ;  let  your  virtues  be  your  ornaments,  re 
membering  life  is  more  than  food,  and  the  body  than  rai 
ment,  Let  your  furniture  be  simple  and  cheap.  Avoid 
pride,  avarice,  and  luxury.  Read  my  '  No  Cross,  no 
Crown.'  There  is  instruction.  Make  your  conversation 
with  the  most  eminent  for  wisdom  and  piety ;  and  shun 
all  wicked  men  as  you  hope  for  the  blessing  of  God  and 
the  comfort  of  your  father's  living  and  dying  prayers. 
Be  sure  you  speak  no  evil  of  any,  no,  not  of  the  mean 
est  ;  much  less  of  your  superiors,  as  magistrates,  guar 
dians,  tutors,  teachers,  and  elders  in  Christ. 

"Be  no  busybodies ;  meddle  not  with  other  folks'  mat 
ters,  but  when  in  conscience  and  duty  prest ;  for  it  pro 
cures  trouble,  and  is  ill  manners,  and  very  unseemly  to 
wise  men. 

"In  your  families  remember  Abraham,  Moses,  and 
Joshua,  their  integrity  to  the  Lord ;  and  do  as  you  have 
them  for  your  examples. 

"  Let  the  fear  and  service  of  the  living  God  be  en 
couraged  in  your  houses,  and  that  plainness,  sobriety,  and 
moderation  in  all  things  as  becometh  God's  chosen  people  ; 
and  as  I  advise  you,  my  beloved  children,  do  you  counsel 
yours,  if  God  should  give  you  any.  Yea,  I  counsel  and 
command  them  as  my  posterity,  that  they  love  and  serve 
the  Lord  God  with  an  upright  heart,  that  He  may  bless 
you  and  yours  from  generation  to  generation. 

"  And  as  for  you,  who  are  likely  to  be  concerned  in  the 

government  of  Pennsylvania  and  my  parts  of  East-Jersey, 

especially  the  first,  I  do  charge  you  before  the  Lord  God 

and  his  holy  angels,   that  you  be  lowly,   diligent,  and 

23 


266  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

tender,  fearing  God,  loving  the  people,  and  hating  covet- 
ousness.  Let  justice  have  its  impartial  course,  and  the 
law  free  passage.  Though,  to  your  loss,  protect  no  man 
against  it ;  for  you  arc  not  above  the  law,  but  the  law 
above  you.  Live,  therefore,  the  lives  yourselves  you 
would  have  the  people  live,  and  then  you  have  right  and 
boldness  to  punish  the  transgressor.  Keep  upon  the 
square,  for  God  sees  you  ;  therefore,  do  your  duty,  and  be 
sure  you  see  with  your  own  eyes,  and  hear  with  your  own 
ears.  Entertain  no  lurchers,  cherish  no  informers  for  gain 
or  revenge ;  use  no  tricks ;  fly  to  no  devices  to  support  or 
cover  injustice;  but  let  your  hearts  be  upright  before  the 
Lord,  trusting  in  Him  above  the  contrivances  of  men,  and 
none  shall  be  able  to  hurt  or  supplant. 

"  Oh  !  the  Lord  is  a  strong  God,  and  lie  can  do  whatso 
ever  He  pleases  ;  and  though  men  consider  it  not,  it  is  the 
Lord  that  rules  and  overrules  in  the  kingdoms  of  men, 
and  He  builds  up  and  pulls  down.  I,  your  father,  am  the 
man  that  can  say,  he  that  trusts  in  the  Lord  shall  not  be 
confounded.  But  God,  in  due  time,  will  make  his  enemies 
be  at  peace  with  Him. 

"  If  you  thus  behave  yourselves,  and  so  become  a  terror 
to  evil-doers  and  a  praise  to  them  that  do  well,  God,  my 
God,  will  be  with  you  in  wisdom  and  a  sound  mind,  and 
make  you  blessed  instruments  in  his  hand  for  the  settle 
ment  of  some  of  those  desolate  parts  of  the  world,  which 
my  soul  desires  above  all  worldly  honors  and  riches,  both 
for  you  that  go  and  you  that  stay;  you  that  govern  and 
you  that  are  governed ;  that  in  the  end  you  may  be 
gathered  with  me  to  the  rest  of  God. 

"  Finally,  my  children,  love  one  another  with  a  true 


OF     WILLIAM    PEXN.  267 

endeared  love,  and  your  dear  relations  on  both  sides,  and 
take  care  to  preserve  tender  affection  in  your  children  to 
each  other,  often  marrying-  within  themselves,  so  as  it  be 
without  the  bounds  forbidden  in  God's  law,  that  so  they 
may  not,  like  the  forge  ting  unnatural  world,  grow  out  of 
kindred  and  as  cold  as  strangers;  but  as  becomes  a  truly 
natural  and  Christian  stock,  you  and  yours  after  you  may 
live  in  the  pure  and  fervent  love  of  God  towards  one 
another,  as  becometh  brethren  in  the  spiritual  and  natural 
relation. 

"  So,  my  God,  that  hath  blessed  me  with  his  abundant 
mercies,  both  of  this  and  the  other  and  blessed  life,  be  with 
you  all,  guide  you  by  his  counsel,  bless  you,  and  bring 
you  to  his  eternal  glory!  that  you  may  shine,  my  dear 
children,  in  the  firmament  of  God's  power  with  the  blessed 
spirits  of  the  just,  that  celestial  family,  praising  and  ad 
miring  Him,  the  God  and  Father  of  it,  forever.  For 
there  is  no  God  like  unto  Him  ;  the  God  of  Isaac  and  of 
Jacob,  the  God  of  the  prophets,  the  apostles,  and  martyrs 
of  Jesus,  in  whom  I  live  forever. 

"  So  farewell  to  my  thrice  dearly  beloved  wife  and 
children  ! 

"  Yours,  as  God  pleaseth,  in  that  which  no  waters  can 
quench,  no  time  forget,  nor  distance  wear  away,  but 
remains  forever,  WILLIAM  PENN. 

<;  WORMIXGIIURST,  4th  of  Sixth  month,  1682." 

The  Welcome  proceeded  to  sea  about  the  beginning  of 
the  Seventh  month  (September).  The  number  of  pas 
sengers,  who  were  chiefly  Friends,  was  about  one  hundred. 
But  they  had  not  been  long  on  tho  ocean  before  the  small- 


268  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

pox  broke  out  among  them,  and  carried  off  thirty  of  their 
number.  The  voyage  in  other  respects  was  prosperous, 
and  in*  about  six  weeks  they  came  in  sight  of  the  American 
shore.  They  soon  afterwards  entered  the  Delaware,  and 
on  the  24th  of  the  Eighth  month  landed  at  Newcastle. 

As  he  sailed  up  the  river,  the  inhabitants,  consisting  of 
English,  Dutch,  and  Swedes,  met  the  proprietary  and 
manifested  their  satisfaction  with  his  arrival.  The  town 
of  Newcastle,  where  he  first  landed,  was  originally  com 
menced,  and  at  the  time  of  his  landing  principally  occupied, 
by  the  Dutch.  It  was  first  called  Fort  Cassimir,  subse 
quently  Delaware  Town,  and  finally  designated  by  the 
name  which  it  now  bears.  There  was  a  court-house  in 
the  town,  to  which,  on  the  day  after  his  arrival,  lie  in 
vited  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  place  and  its  vicinity. 
Possession  of  the  territory  was  there  taken  in  due  form  ; 
after  which  he  addressed  the  magistrates  and  people,  ex 
plaining  the  design  of  his  coming  among  them,  his  views 
of  the  nature  and  end  of  government;  with  an  assurance 
of  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  civil  and  religious  rights, 
and  an  admonition  to  live  in  sobriety  and  peace.  IEe  then 
renewed  the  commissions  of  the  magistrates. 

Having  arranged  his  concerns  at  Newcastle,  he  soon 
afterwards  proceeded  to  Uplands.  The  name  of  this 
place  was  then  changed  to  Chester,  in  compliment  to  one 
of  the  companions  of  his  voyage  who  emigrated  from 
Chester,  in  England.  An  assembly  was  convened  at  that 
place,  consisting  of  an  equal  number  from  the  province 
and  territories.  It  was  not  composed  of  members  elected 
for  the  purpose,  but  of  such  freemen  as  chose  to  attend. 
The  session  lasted  but  three  days,  yet  some  legislation  of 


OF    W1L.LIAM    PENN.  269 

great  importance  to  the  colonists  was  effected.  1.  An  act 
was  passed  for  the  union  of  the  province  and  territories. 
2.  An  act  to  naturalize  the  Dutch,  Swedes,  and  other 
foreigners  then  residing*  within  the  province  and  terri 
tories.  3.  The  laws  agreed  upon  in  England,  were,  with 
some  alterations  and  additions,  accepted  and  confirmed. 

These  laws  are  understood  to  have  been  chiefly  the 
work  of  William  Penn,  and  manifest  a  particular  anxiety 
to  preserve  the  rights  of  conscience  unimpaired,  and  to 
maintain  a  sound  morality  in  this  growing  community. 

The  preamble  was  in  the  following  words :  "Whereas 
the  glory  of  God  Almighty,  and  the  good  of  mankind,  is 
the  reason  and  end  of  government ;  and,  therefore,  govern 
ment  itself  is  a  valuable  ordinance  of  God  ;  and  foras 
much  as  it  is  principally  desired"  and  intended  by  the 
proprietary,  and  governor,  and  freemen  of  the  province 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  territories  thereto  belonging,  to 
make  and  establish  such  laws  as  shall  best  preserve  true 
Christian  and  civil  liberty,  in  opposition  to  all  unchristian, 
licentious,  and  unjust  practices,  whereby  God  may  have 
his  due,  Ciesar  his  due,  and  the  people  their  due,  from 
tyranny  and  oppression  on  the  one  side,  and  insolence 
and  licentiousness  on  the  other;  so  that  the  best  and 
firmest  foundation  may  be  laid,  for  the  present  and  future 
happiness  of  both  the  governor  and  the  people  of  this  prov 
ince  and  territories  aforesaid,  and  their  posterity ;  be  it 
enacted,"  etc. 

The  first  of  these  laws  was  to  the  following  import : 
"  Almighty  God  being  the  Lord  of  conscience,  Father  of 
lights,  and  the  author  as  well  as  object  of  all  Divine 
knowledge,  faith  und  worship;  who  only  can  enlighten 


270  PASSAGES     FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  mind  and  convince  the  understanding  of  people  in  due 
reverence  to  his  sovereignty  over  the  souls  of  mankind, 
be  it  enacted,  that  no  person  now  or  hereafter  residing  in 
tu:s  province,  who  shall  confess  one  Almighty  God  to  be 
the  creator,  upholder,  and  ruler  of  the  world,  and  profess 
himself  obliged  in  conscience  to  live  peaceably  and  justly 
under  the  civil  government,  shall  in  any  wise  be  molested 
or  prejudiced  on  account  of  his  conscientious  persuasion 
or  practice ;  nor  shall  he  be  compelled  to  frequent  or 
maintain  any  religious  worn  hip,  place,  or  ministry  con 
trary  to  his  mind,  but  shall  freely  enjoy  his  liberty  in  that 
respect,  without  interruption  or  reflection.  And  if  any 
person  shall  abuse  or  deride  another  for  his  different  per 
suasion  or  practice  in  religion,  such  shall  be  looked  upon 
as  disturbers  of  the  peace  and  be  punished  accordingly." 

The  officers  of  the  government  were  required  to  be  such 
as  professed  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  had  not  been  con 
victed  of  unsober  or  dishonest  conversation.  Scandalous 
vices  of  every  description  were  prohibited,  and  provision 
made  for  training  children  to  business,  to  prevent  beggary 
::nd  pauperism. 

In  the  criminal  code  then  established,  a  provision  was 
introduced  which  had  previously  been  but  little  regarded 
in  the  administration  of  jurisprudence.  The  reformation 
of  the  criminals,  as  well  as  deterring  others  from  the  com 
mission  of  crimes,  was  viewed  as  an  important  object  of 
attention.  Hence  the  prisons  were  required  to  be  con 
sidered  as  workshops,  where  the  offenders  might  be 
industriously,  soberly,  and  morally  employed.  It  ex 
empted  from  the  infliction  of  death  about  twro  hundred 
offences  which  were  capitally  punished  by  the  English 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXN.  271 

law,  reserving  the  penalty  of  dentb  r  \  murder 

onlv. 

A  clause  was  soon  after  added,  through  the  influence,  it 
is  believed,  of  the  Proprietary,  which  abolished  the  right 
of  primogeniture  according  to  the  English  Inw,  by  giving 
the  property  of  intestates  to  the  wife  and  children,  a  meas 
ure  in-  harmony  with  his  views  of  justice  and  the  well- 
being  of  individuals  and  of  society,  and  v>  hich  would  also 
give  .-lability  to  the  republican  government  he  desired  to 
establish  by  prom  'ling  equality  of  social  position  and  dis 
tribution  of  wealth.  An  act  was  also  passed  at  the  firs1 
meeting  of  the  Provincial  Council,  providing  for  three 
peacemakers,  as  arbitrators  at  every  count v  court,  to  settle 
differences  between  individuals. 

Judge  Sharswood,  of  Philadelphia,  an  eminent  legal 
authority,  in  an  address  before  the  Historical  Society  of 
that  city,  says  :  '•'  Our  founder  had  well  studied  the  science 
of  government  and  laws,  though  he  was  no  lawyer  by  pro 
fession.  He  drew  his  first  principles  on  the  subject  from 
tlio  most  authoritative  source.  lie  held  that  'the  glory 
of  God  Almighty  and  the  good  of  mankind  is  the  reason 
•ir.d  end  of  government,  and  therefore  government  itself  is 
a  venerable  ordinance  of  God.' 

"Another  of  William  Perm's  principles  was,  that  'any 
government  is  free  to  the  people  under  it,  whatever  be  the 
frame,  where  the  laws  rule  and  the  people  arc  a  party  to 
those  laws,  and  more  than  this  is  tyranny,  oligarchy,  and 
confusion.'  lie  knew  no  more  concise  and  perfect  descrip 
tion  of  civil  and  political  liberty  than  was  contained  in 
these  few  words.  lie  composed  and  published  his  frame 
to  advance*  as  he  says,  '  the  great  end  of  government,  viz., 


272  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

to  support  power  in  reverence  with  the  people,  and  to 
secure  the  people  from  the  abuse  of  power ;  that  they  may 
be  free  by  their  just  obedience,  and  the  magistrates  honor 
able  for  their  just  administration  ;  for  liberty  without 
obedience  is  confusion,  and  obedience  without  liberty  is 
slavery.' 

"  By  this  frame  the  General  Assembly  was  the  first  year 
to  consist  of  all  the  freemen  of  the  province.  Accordingly, 
we  may  say  that  the  Assembly  which  convened  at  Upland 
on  the  7th,  and  adjourned  on  the  10th,  of  December,  1082, 
was  the  meeting  of  a  pure  democracy.  It  would  have 
been  a  solemn  and  touching  sight  to  one  who  could  have 
foreseen  all  its  consequences  in  the  distant  future — that 
first  meeting.  They  came  together,  the  pioneers  of  the 
wilderness — stern,  grave,  and  earnest  men — prepared  for 
toil,  privation  and  danger — men  of  moral,  rather  than 
mere  physical  courage — their  hands  hardened  by  the  axe's 
unwearied  stroke  in  felling  the  primeval  forest  and  rais 
ing  their  rude  log  cabins — and  there,  within  the  hearing  of 
the  yells  of  wandering  savages  of  untried  disposition,  they 
adopted,  in  the  short  space  of  three  days,  sixty-one  laws, 
many  of  them,  indeed  all  of  them,  the  foundation-stones 
upon  which  has  been  since  erected  the  superstructure  of  the 
civil  and  criminal  jurisprudence  of  this  broad  Common 
wealth.  It  was  a  fitting  introduction  to  that  simple  but 
noble  code, — the  law  about  liberty  of  conscience, — '  that  all 
persons  living  in  this  province,  who  confess  and  acknowl 
edge  the  one  Almighty  and  Eternal  God  to  be  the  creator, 
upholder,  and  ruler  of  the  world,  and  that  hold  themselves 
obliged  in  conscience  to  live  peaceably  and  justly  in  civil 
society,  shall  in  no  ways  be  molested  or  prejudiced  for 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  273 

their  religious  persuasion  or  practice  in  matters  of  faith 
and  worship ;  nor  shall  they  be  compelled  at  any  time  to 
frequent  or  maintain  any  religious  worship,  place,  or 
ministry.' 

"  Looking  at  the  scope  and  spirit  of  our  early  laws  and  in 
stitutions,  the  celebrated  Montesquieu  pronounced  William 
Penn  a  true  Lycurgus ;  that  though  the  object  of  the  one 
was  to  form  a  peaceful,  and  of  the  other  a  warlike,  State, 
they  resembled  each  other  in  the  ascendancy  they  were  able 
to  acquire  over  the  opinions,  prejudices,  and  passions  of  the 
people.  Penn  infused  his  own  spirit  into  the  laws,  and 
certainly  the  whole  history  of  our  jurisprudence  shows 
how  largely  we  have  drawn  from  these  original  fountains. 
The  character  of  the  code  comports  with  its  introduction. 
Moderate  in  its  penal  enactments,  just  and  equal  in  its 
civil  provisions,  it  is  an  instance  unparalleled  in  the  world's 
history  of  the  foundations  of  a  great  State  laid  in  peace, 
justice,  equality.  It  is  necessary  to  refer  merely  to  the 
abolition  of  capital  punishment  in  all  cases  except  for  wil 
ful  murder ;  that  all  prisons  shall  be  workhouses ;  to  the 
acts  for  the  recording  of  deeds  and  registry  of  wills ;  for 
the  regulation  of  process  and  pleading  ;  for  making  lands 
chattels  for  the  payment  of  debts,  and  that  the  laws  should 
not  only  be  printed  for  general  information,  but  taught  in 
the  schools." 

Before  the  assembly  broke  up,  which  they  did  on  the 
7th  of  Tenth  month,  they  returned  their  -grateful  ac 
knowledgments  to  the  Governor.  The  Swedes  deputed 
an  individual  to  assure  him  that  they  would  love,  serve, 
and  obey  him  with  all  they  possessed. 

It  appears  that  previous  to  the  meeting  of  this  asseni- 
S 


274  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

bly,  "William  Perm  paid  a  visit,  in  part  at  least  of  a  relig 
ious  character,  to  New  York,  Long  Island,  and  East 
Jersey,  of  which  nothing  but  a  brief  notice  remains. 
Shortly  after  its  dissolution  he  repaired  to  Maryland, 
where  lie  was  kindly  received  by  Lord  Baltimore  and  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  that  colony.  One  object  of  this 
visit  was  to  settle  with  Lord  Baltimore.the  boundaries  of 
their  respective  colonies  ;  but,  two  days  having  been  spent 
in  the  discussion  of  the  subject,  with  very  little  prospect 
of  a  speedy  adjustment  of  their  adverse  claims,  and  the 
winter  coming  on,  they  agreed  to  meet  in  the  ensuing 
spring.  When  he  was  about  returning  to  Pennsylvania, 
Lord  Baltimore  accompanied  him  several  miles  on  his  way. 
From  this  circumstance  we  may  infer  that  the  conference 
between  them  was  amicably  conducted,  and  that  they  parted 
in  a  friendly  manner.  After  taking  leave  of  Lord  Baltimore, 
he  proceeded  to  a  meeting  of  Friends,  which  was  held  at  the 
house  of  Thomas  Hooker,  and  from  thence  to  an  appointed 
one  at  Choptank,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay, 
which  was  attended  by  persons  of  divers  ranks  and  quali 
ties.  Of  this  visit  to  Maryland,  and  the  previous  one  to 
New  York,  he  briefly  states,  in  a  letter  to  one  of  his  friends, 
that  he  had  had  good  and  eminent  service  for  the  Lord. 
Thus  it  appears,  that  amidst  the  cares  of  his  new  political 
station,  he  was  sedulously  engaged  in  the  exercise  of  his 
ministerial  gift. 

In  a  letter  dated  at  Chester,  on  the  20th  of  Tenth 
month  of  this  year,  he  says :  "  I  bless  the  Lord  I  am 
very  well. and  much  satisfied  with  my  place. and  portion, 
yet  busy  enough,  having  much  to  do  to  please  all,  and  yet 
to  have  an  eye  to  those  who  are  not  here  to  please  them- 


O  F    W  I  L  L  I  A  M     P  E  N  N  .  2  75 

selves.  As  to  outward  things  we  are  satisfied  5  the  land 
good,  the  air  clear  and  sweet,  the  springs  plentiful,  and 
provision  good  and  easy  to  come  at,  an  innumerable  quan 
tity  of  wild-fowl  and  fish;  in  fine,  here  is  what  an  Abra 
ham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  would  be  well  contented  with  ;  and 
service  enough  for  God,  for  the  fields  are  white  for  har 
vest.  Oh,  how  sweet  is  the  quiet  of  these  parts,  freed 
from  the  anxious  and  troublesome  solicitations,  heresies, 
and  perplexities  of  woeful  Europe.  .  .  . 

"  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  of  twenty-three  ships  none  mis 
carried,  only  two  or  three  had  the  small-pox,  else  healthy 
and  quick  passages,  generally  such  as  had  not  been  known  ; 
some  but  twenty-eight  days,  and  few  longer  than  six 
weeks.  Blessed  be  God  for  it,  who  is  good  to  us,  and 
follows  with  his  abundant  kindness.  My  soul  fervently 
breathes,  that  in  his  heavenly  guiding  wisdom  we  maybe 
kept ;  that  we  may  serve  Him  in  our  day  and  lay  down 
our  heads  in  peace." 

Wo  have  abundant  evidence  that  the  toils  and  cares 
which  William  Penn  encountered  in  the  settlement  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  establishment  of  the  government, 
were  not  submitted  to  for  the  gratification  of  a  worldly  am 
bition,  or  the  promotion  of  his  personal  interests  ;  but  that 
the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  universal  righteousness, 
and  the  increase  of  happiness  to  the  human  family,  were 
the  primary  and  principal  objects  of  these  arduous  en- 
ira  Demerits.  The  following  letter,  addressed  to  a  person 
who  had  cast  some  unkind  reflections  upon  him,  affords  a 
forcible  exposition  of  his  motives  and  labors : 

"  MY  OLD  FRIEND : — I  could  speak  largely  of  God's 


276  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

dealings  with  me  in  getting  this  thing.  "What  an  inward 
exercise  of  faith  and  patience  it  cost  me  in  passing.  The 
travail  was  mine,  as  well  as  the  debt  and  cost,  through  the 
envy  of  many,  both  professors,  false  friends,  and  profane. 
My  God  hath  given  it  me  in  the  face  of  the  world,  arid  it 
is  to  hold  it  in  true  judgment,  as  a  reward  of  my  suffer 
ings,  and  that  is  seen  here,  whatever  some  despisers  may 
say  or  think.  The  place  God  hath  given  me,  and  I  never 
felt  judgment  for  the  power  I  kept,  but  trouble  for  what  I 
parted  with.  It  is  more  than  a  worldly  title  or  patent 
that  hath  clothed  me  in  this  place.  Keep  thy  place  :  I  am 
in  mine,  and  have  served  the  God  of  the  whole  earth  since 
I  have  been  in  it.  Nor  am  I  sitting  down  in  a  greatness 
that  I  have  denied.  I  am  day  and  night  spending  my  life, 
my  time,  my  money,  and  am  not  six-pence  enriched  by  this 
greatness.  Costs  in  getting,  settling,  transportation,  and 
maintenance,  now  in  a  public  manner  at  my  own  charge 
duly  considered ;  to  say  nothing  of  my  hazard,  and  the 
distance  I  am  at  from  a  considerable  estate,  and  which  is 
more,  my  dear  wife  and  poor  children. 

"  Well,  the  Lord  is  a  God  of  righteous  judgment.  Had 
1  sought  greatness  I  had  stayed  at  home,  where  the  differ 
ence  between  what  I  am  here  and  was  offered,  and  coul  1 
have  been  there  in  power  and  wealth,  is  as  wide  as  the 
places  are.  No ;  1  came  for  the  Lord's  sake,  and  there 
fore  have  I  stood  to  this  day,  well  and  diligent,  and  suc 
cessful,  blessed  be  his  power.  Nor  shall  I  trouble  myself 
to  tell  thee  what  I  am  to  the  people  of  this  place,  in  tra 
vails,  watchings,  spendings,  and  .my  servants  every  way  ; 
freely  (not  like  a  selfish  man),  I  have  many  witnesses 
To  conclude,  it  is  now  in  Friends'  hands.  Through  my 


PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE  277 

tfavail,  faith,  and  patience  it  came  If  Friends  here  keep 
to  God,  and  in  the  justice,  mercy,  equity,  and  fear  of  the 
Lord,  their  enemies  will  be  their  footstool.  If  not,  their 
heirs,  and  my  heirs  too,  will  lose  all,  and  desolation  will 
follow ;  but,  blessed  be  the  Lord,  we  are  well  and  live  in 
the  dear  love  of  God,  and  the  fellowship  of  his  tender 
heavenly  Spirit,  and  our  faith  is  for  ourselves  and  one 
another  that  the  Lord  will  be  with  us  a  King  and  a 
Counsellor  forever. 

"  Thy  ancient,  though  grieved  friend, 

WILLIAM  PENN. 

"  CHESTER,  5th  of  the  Twelfth  month,  1682." 

William  Penn,  tradition  says,  went  from  Chester  to  the 
site  of  Philadelphia,  with  some  of  his  friends,  in  a  barge, 
and  landed  at  the  mouth  of  Dock  Creek,  the  present  Dock 
Street.  Some  streets,  it  is  supposed,  had  been  laid  out  in 
accordance  with  his  plan,  part  of  which  was  that  the  whole 
river-front  for  a  considerable  distance  back  should  be  for 
ever  kept  open  for  public  use.  He  also  designed  the  plot 
of  the  city  to  embrace  10,000  acres.  The  first  of  these 
provisions  has  been  disregarded,  and  the  last  was  changed 
in  condescension  to  the  judgment  of  his  surveyor,  and  lim 
ited  to  1200  acres.  The  far-seeing  wisdom  of  William 
Penn,  with  regard  to  both  of  them,  has  appeared  clearly 
in  the  light  of  the  succeeding  years. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  (but  whether  previous1}7  to 
his  visit  to  Maryland  or  not,  is  a  little  doubtful),  was  held 
at  Shackamaxon  the  celebrated  treaty  with  the  Indians. 
It  is  a  subject  of  regret,  that  so  little  information  which 
can  be  entirely  relied  upon,  in  relation  to  this  treaty,  now 
24 


278  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

remains.    There  are,  however,  relations  in  Indian  spcechesv 
and  traditions  in  families  descended  from  those  who  were 
present  on  the  occasion,  from  which  we  may  learn  .some 
thing1  concerning  it.     It  appears  that,  though  the  parties 
were  to  assemble  at  Coaquannoc,  the  treaty  was  made  a 
little  higher  up,  at  Shackamaxon,  now  Kensington,  a  part 
•jf  Philadelphia.     There  wTas  at  Shackamaxon,  near   tin; 
river-side,  a  very  large  elm-tree,  and  under  its  widespread 
branches  William  Penn  and  his  friends  and  the  Indians 
assembled.     He  addressed  them  through  an  interpreter. 
saying  that  the  Great  Spirit  who  made  him  and  them,  who 
ruled  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  who  knew  the  inner 
most  thoughts  of  man,  knew  that  he  and  his  friends  had  a 
hearty  desire  to  live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  them, 
and  to  serve  them  to  the  utmost  of  their  power.     It  was 
not  their  custom  to  use  hostile  weapons  against  their  fel 
low-creatures,  for  which  reason  they  had  come  unarmed. 
Their  object  was  not  to  do  injury,  and  thus  provoke  the 
Great  Spirit,  but  to  do  good.     They  were  then  met  on 
the  broad  pathway  of  good  faith  and  good  will,  so  that  no 
advantage  was  to  be  taken  on  cither  side,  but  all  was  to 
be    openness,   brotherhood,   and  love.     After    these    and 
other  words,  he  unrolled  the  parchment,  and  by  means  of 
the  same  interpreter  conveyed  to  them  the  words  of  the 
compact  then  made  for  their  eternal  union.    Among  other 
things,  they  were  not  to  be  molested  in  their  lawful  pur 
suits  even  in  the  territory  they  had  alienated,  for  it  was 
to  be  common  to  them  and  the  English.     They  were  to 
have  the  same  liberty  to  do  all  things  therein  relating  to 
the  improvement  of  their  grounds,  and  providing  suste 
nance  for  their  families,  which  the  English  had.     If  any 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  279 

disputes  should  arise  between  the  two,  they  should  be 
Fettled  by  twelve  persons,  half  of  whom  should  be  Eng 
lish  and  half  Indians.  He  then  made  them  many  pres 
ents  from  the  merchandise  which  had  been  spread  before 
them.  Having-  done  this,  he  laid  the  roll  of  parchment 
on  the  "-round,  observing  again,  that  the  ground  should 
bo  common  to  both  people,  lie  then  added  that  he  would 
not  compare  the  friendship  between  him  and  them  to  a 
chain,  for  the  rain  might  sometimes  rust  it,  or  a  tree 
might  fall  and  break  it ;  but  he  should  consider  them  as 
the  same  flesh  and  blood  with  the  Christians,  and  the 
same  as  if  one  man's  body  were  to  be  divided  into  two 
parts.  He  then  took  up  the  parchment  and  presented  it 
to  the  sachems,  and  desired  them  to  preserve  it  carefully 
for  'three  generations,  that  their  children  might  know 
what  had  passed  between  them,  just  as  if  he  had  remained 
himself  with  them  to  repeat  it. 

That  William  Perm  must  have  done  and  said  a  great 
deal  more  on  this  interesting  occasion  than  has  now  been 
represented,  there  can  bo  no  doubt.  It  is  also  to  be  re 
gretted  that  the  speeches  of  the  Indians  on  this  memora 
ble  day  have  not  come  down  to  us.  It  is  only  known 
that  the}T  solemnly  pledged  themselves,  according  to  their 
country  manner,  to  live  in  love  with  William  Penn  and 
his  children  as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  should  endure. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  William  Penn  first  entered 
personally  into  that  friendship  with  them  which  ever 
afterwards  continued  between  them,  and  which,  for  the 
space,  of  more  than  seventy  years,  was  never  interrupted, 
or  so  long  as  the  Friends  retained  power  in  the  govern 
ment.  His  conduct  to  these  people  was  so  engaging,  his 


280  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

justice  sc  conspicuous,  and  the  counsels  which  he  gave 
them  were  so  evidently  for  their  advantage,  that  he  bo 
came  very  much  endeared  to  them.  The  Iroquois  called 
him  Onas,  and  the  Delawares  Miquon,  both  words  signi 
fying  a  quill  or  pen;  and  wherever  any  remnants  of  the 
Indian  tribes  who  knew  him  then  are  found,  his  name  is 
held  in  honor ;  and  even  a  membership  in  the  religious 
Society  with  whom  he  is  associated  in  their  memory,  is 
a  passport  to  their  confidence. 

In  the  early  part  of  16.83,  William  Penn  met  the  Pro 
vincial  Council,  and  afterwards  the  Assembly,  at  Philadel 
phia. 

The  three  lower  counties,  now  the  State  of  Delaware, 
having  been  united,  by  their  request,  to  the  Province  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  council  was  composed  of  three  mem 
bers  from  each  of  those  counties  and  from  the  counties  of 
Philadelphia,  Bucks,  and  Chester  ;  and  the  Assembly  had 
nine  members  from  each.  The  charter  being  under  con 
sideration,  the  Proprietary  told  them  "they  might  amend, 
alter,  or  add  for  the  public  good,  and  that  he  was  ready  to 
settle  such  foundations  as  might  be  for  their  happiness  and 
the  good  of  their  posterity." 

A  new  charter  was  accordingly  agreed  to,  embracing 
the  same  principles  as  the  first,  but  altering  a  few  details. 
The  Assembly  voted  the  Proprietary  an  impost  on  certain 
imports  and  exports,  which  he  generously  declined. 

After  this  it  appears  that  he  was  occupied  in  making 
purchases  of  land  from  the  Indians.  By  the  terms  of 
one  of  them  it  was  to  extend  "as  far  back  as  a  man  could 
walk  in  three  days."  William  Penn  and  some  of  his 
friends  and  a  number  of  Indian  chiefs  started  to  measure 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  281 

it,  and  walked  leisurely  up  the  Delaware,  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Neshaminy,  for  a  day  and  a  half,  and  then  stopped, 
William  Penn  concluding  that  that  was  enough  for  pres 
ent  settlement,  leaving  the  rest  to  be  measured  when  it 
might  be  needed.  The  remainder  was  not  marked  out 
till  1733,  when  the  then  Governor  of  Pennsylvania — an 
unworthy  successor,  as  surveyor,  of  the  generous  Proprie 
tary  and  simple-hearted  Indians — -employed  a  noted  fast 
walker,  who  made  eighty-six  miles  in  the  remaining  day 
and  a  half.  This  disgraceful  act  made  the  first  breach  in 
the  confidence  of  the  Indians. 
24* 


282  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 


XIV. 

WITHIN  little  nore  than  a  year  after  the  arrangements 
were  made  for  settling-  the  province,  between  twenty 
and  thirty  vessels  arrived,  bringing  more  than  two  thou 
sand  individuals.  A  large  part  of  these  were  members 
of  the  religious  Society  of  Friends.  They  had  left  their 
own  country  to  avoid  the  vexations  and  vices  of  Europe, 
that  they  might  lead  quiet  and  peaceable  lives  and  wor 
ship  God  according  to  their  conscientious  persuasion. 
Though  these  emigrants  were  not  generally  rich,  yet 
many  of  them  possessed  considerable  estates,  and  were 
persons  of  good  education.  They  were  mostly  sober, 
industrious  people,  of  reputable  characters,  well  qualified 
to  advance  the  interests  of  this  rising  colony.  As  they 
arrived  in  succession,  they  were  kindly  received  and  as 
sisted  by  those  who  were  there  before  them  ;  and  scat 
tering  along  the  Delaware,  as  choice  or  convenience  sug 
gested,  the  country  was  thinly  peopled  from  the  falls  at 
Trenton  to  Chester.  The  inhabitants,  including  the  Dutch 
and  Swedes,  who  had  been  long  resident  in  the  country, 
are  computed  at  the  time  to  which  we  have  arrived  to  be 
about  four  thousand,  so  that  William  Penn  may  be  said  to 
have  raised  up  a  colony  at  once  in  his  new  domains. 

In  the  course  of  1682  and  the  two  following  years  great 
numbers  of  emigrants  arrived  from  England,  Ireland, 
Wales,  Holland,  aud  Germanv,  who  extended  their  settle- 


OF    WILLIAM    TENN.  283 

ments  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  The  Welsh  set 
tled  on  both  sides  of  the  Schuylkill,  and  have  left,  in  the 
names  of  the  townships  Morion,  Havcrford,  Radnor,  Gwy- 
nedd,  etc.,  a  lasting  memorial  of  their  old  homes.  Among 
the  emigrants  from  Germany  were  a  number  of  Friends, 
formerly  inhabitants  of  Crisheim  in  the  Palatinate,  among 
whom  William  Penn  had  travelled  in  the  service  of  the 
Gospel  during  the  year  1G77.  They  formed  the  flourish 
ing  settlement  of  Germantown,  and  by  their  opportune 
removal  to  the  asylum  which  was  provided  for  them,  es 
caped  the  calamity  which  a  few  years  afterward  overtook 
their  native  land,  when  Louis  XIV.,  in  the  wantonness  of 
power,  desolated  the  Palatinate  with  fire  and  sword. 

William  Penn  having  dispatched  the  public  business  of. 
the  colony,  as  far  as  his  presence  was  necessary,  and  hav 
ing  superintended  the  works  in  his  new  city,  went  on  a 
journey  of  observation  into  the  province.  On  his  return 
to  Pennsbury,  his  residence  on  the  Delaware  above  Phil 
adelphia,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  "  The  Free  Society  of  Trad 
ers  of  Pennsylvania,"  in  which  he  communicated  the  re 
sult  of  his  discoveries,  from  which  the  following  extracts 
are  taken  : 

"MY  KIND  FRIENDS: — The  kindness  of  yours  by  the 
ship  Thomas  and  Ann  doth  much  oblige  me ;  for  by  it  I 
perceive  the  interest  you  take  in  my  health  and  reputation 
and  in  the  prosperous  beginning  of  this  province. 

"  In  the  first  place  I  take  notice  of  the  news  you  sent 
me,  whereby  I  find  some  persons  have  had  so  little  wit, 
and  so  much  malice,  as  to  report  my  death  ;  and,  to  mend 
the  matter,  dead  a  Jesuit,  too.  One  might  have  reason- 


284  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

ably  hoped  that  this  distance,  like  death,  would  have  been 
a  protection  against  spite  and  envy ;  and,  indeed,  absence 
being  a  kind  of  death  ought  alike  to  secure  the  name  of 
the  absent  as  of  the  dead,  because  they  are  equally  unable 
as  such  to  defend  themselves.  But  I  perceive  many  frivo 
lous  and  idle  stories  have  been  invented  since  my  depart 
ure  from  England,  which  perhaps  at  this  time  are  no  more 
alive  than  I  am  dead. 

"  But  if  I  have  been  unkindly  used  by  some  I  left  be 
hind  me,  I  found  love  and  respect  enough  where  I  came — 
an  universal,  kind  welcome,  every  sort  in  their  way.  For 
here  are  some  of  several  nations,  as  well  as  divers  judg 
ments.  Nor  were  the  natives  wanting  in  this,  for  their 
kings,  queens,  and  great  men  both  visited  and  presented 
me,  to  whom  I  made  suitable  returns." 

After  giving  full  and  interesting  accounts  of  the  cli 
mate,  character  of  the  land,  and  productions,  he  speaks  of 
the  Indians:  "For  their  persons  they  are  generally  tall, 
straight,  well  built,  and  of  singular  proportion.  They 
tread  strong  and  clever,  and  mostly  walk  with  a  lofty 
chin.  Their  language  is  lofty,  yet  narrow  ;  but,  like  the 
Hebrew  in  signification,  full.  Like  shorthand  in  writing, 
one  word  serveth  in  the  place  of  three,  and  the  rest  are 
supplied  by  the  understanding  of  the  hearer — imperfect  in 
their  tenses,  wanting  in  their  moods,  participles,  adverbs, 
conjunctions,  interjections.  I  have  made  it  my  business 
to  understand  it,  that  I  might  not  want  an  interpreter 
on  any  occasion  ;  and  I  must  say  that  I  know  not  a  lan 
guage  spoken  in  Europe  that  hath  words  of  more  sweet 
ness  or  greatness,  in  accent  and  emphasis,  than  theirs. 

"  If  an  European  comes  to  sec  them,  or  calls  for  lodging 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  285 

at  their  house  or  wigwam,  they  give  him  the  best  place 
and  first  cut.  If  they  come  to  visit  us,  they  salute  us 
with  an  Itah,  which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  *  Good  be  to 
you  ! '  and  set  them  down,  which  is  mostly  on  the  ground, 
close  to  their  heels,  their  legs  upright.  It  may  be  they 
speak  not  a  word,  but  observe  all  passages.  If  you  give 
them  anything  to  eat  or  drink,  well,  for  they  will  not  ask  ; 
and  be  it  little  or  much,  if  it  be  with  kindness,  they  are 
well  pleased ;  else  they  go  away  sullen,  but  say  nothing. 

"But  in  liberality  they  excel.  Nothing  is  too  good 
for  their  friend.  Give  them  a  line  gun,  coat,  or  other 
thing,,  it  may  pass  twenty  hands  before  it  sticks:  light  of 
heart,  strong  affections,  but  soon  spent :  the  most  merry 
creatures  that  live ;  they  feast  and  dance  .perpetually ; 
they  never  have  much  nor  want  much.  Wealth  circu- 
lateth  like  the  blood.  All  parts  partake  ;  and  though  none 
shall  want  what  another  hath,  yet  exact  observers  of  pro 
perty.  Some  kings  have  sold,  others  presented  me  with 
several  parcels  of  land.  The  pay  or  presents  I  made  them 
were  not  hoarded  by  the  particular  owners ;  but  the 
neighboring  kings  and  their  clans  being  present  when  the 
goods  were  brought  out,  the  parties  chiefly  concerned  con 
sulted  what,  and  to  whom,  they  should  give  -them. 

"They  care  for  little,  because  they  want  but  little ;  and 
the  reason  is,  a  little  contents  them.  We  sweat  and  toil 
to  live.  Their  pleasure  feeds  them  ;  I  mean  their  hunting, 
fishing,  and  fowling,  and  this  table  is  spread  everywhere. 
They  eat  twice  a  day,  morning  and  evening.  Their  seats 
and  table  are  the  ground.  Since  the  Europeans  came  into 
these  parts,  ',hey  are  grown  great  lovers  of  strong  liquors, 
rum  espccia  ly ;  and  for  it  exchange  the  richest  of  then 


286  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

skins  and  furs.  If  they  are  treated  with  liquor,  thej  are 
restless  till  they  have  enough  to  sleep.  That  is  their  cry, 
'some  more  and  I  will  go  to  sleep;'  but  when  drunk, 
one  of  the  most  wretched  spectacles  in  the  world.  In 
sickness  impatient  to  be  cured,  and  for  it  give  anything, 
especially  for  their  children,  to  whom  they  are  extremely 
natural.  They  are  choice  of  the  graves  of  their  dead  ; 
for,  lest  they  should  be  lost  by  time,  and  fall  to  common 
use,  they  pick  off  the  grass  that  grows  upon  them,  and 
heap  up  the  fallen  earth  with  great  care  and  exactness. 

"These  poor  people  are  under  a  dark  night  in  things  re 
lating  to  religion,  to  be  sure  the  tradition  of  it ;  yet  they 
believe  a  God  and  immortality  without  the  help  of  meta 
physics ;  for.  they  say  there  is  a  great  King,  who  made 
them,  who  dwells  in  a  glorious  country  to  the  southward 
of  them ;  and  that  the  souls  of  the  good  shall  go  thither, 
where  they  shall  live  again.  Their  worship  consists  of 
two  parts,  sacrifice  and  cantico.  Their  sacrifice  is  their 
first-fruits.  The  first  and  fattest  buck  they  kill  goeth  to 
the  fire,  where  he  is  all  burnt,  with  a  mournful  ditty  of  him 
who  performeth  the  ceremony,  but  with  such  marvellous 
fervency  and  labor  of  body  that  he  will  even  sweat  to  a 
foam.  The  other  part  is  their  cantico,  performed  by  round 
dances,  sometimes  words,  sometimes  songs,  then  shouts ; 
two  being  in  the  middle  who  begin,  and  by  singing  nnd 
drumming  on  a  board  direct  the  chorus.  Their  postures 
in  the  dance  are  very  antic  and  differing,  but  all  keep 
measure.  This  is  done  with  equal  earnestness  and 
labor,  but  great  appearance  of  joy.  In  the  fall,  when 
the  corn  cometh  in,  they  begin  to  feast  one  another. 
There  have  been  two  great  festivals  already,  to  which 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  287 

ail  come  that  will.  I  was  at  one  myself.  Their  enter 
tainment  was  a  great  seat  by  a  spring  under  some  shady 
trees,  and  twenty  bucks  with  hot  cakes  of  new  corn,  both 
•\vheat  and  beans,  which  they  make  up  in  a  square  form  in 
the  leaves  of  the  stem,  and  bake  them  in  the  ashes,  and 
after  that  they  fall  to  dance.  But  they  who  go  must 
carry  a  small  present  in  their  money  ;  it  may  be  sixpence, 
which  is  made  of  the  bone  of  a  fish ;  the  black  is  with 
them  as  gold;  the  white  silver;  they  call  it  wampum. 

"  I  have  had  occasion  to  be  in  council  with  them  upon 
treaties  for  land,  and  to  adjust  the  terms  of  trade.  Their 
order  is  thus ;  the  king  sits  in  the  middle  of  a  half-moon, 
and  has  his  council,  the  old  and  wise  on  each  hand. 
Behind  them,  or  at  a  little  distance,  sit  the  younger  fry  in 
the  same  figure.  Having  consulted  and  resolved  their 
business,  the  king  ordered  one  of  them  to  speak  to  me. 
He  stood  up,  came  to  me,  and  in  the  name  of  his  king 
saluted  me,  then  he  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  told  me  that 
he  was  ordered  by  his  king  to  speak  to  me,  and  that  now 
it  was  riot  he  but  the  king  who  spoke,  because  what  he 
should  say  was  the  king's  mind.  Having  thus  introduced 
his  matter,  he  fell  to  the  bounds  of  the  land  they  had 
agreed  to  dispose  of,  and  the  price ;  which  now  is  little 
and  dear,  that  which  would  have  bought  twenty  miles 
not  buying  now  two.  During  the  time  that  this  person 
spoke,  not  a  man  of  them  was  observed  to  whisper  or 
smile,  the  old  grave,  the  young  reverent,  in  their  deport 
ment.  They  speak  little,  but  fervently,  and  with  elegance. 
I  have  never  seen  more  natural  sagacity,  considering  them 
without  the  help  (I  was  going  to  say,  the  spoil)  of  tradition ; 
and  he  will  deserve  the  name  of  wise,  who  outwits  them 


288  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

in  any  treaty  about  a  thing  they  understand.  When  the 
purchase  was  agreed,  great  promises  passed  between  us 
of  kindness  and  good  neighborhood,  and  that  the  English 
and  Indians  must  live  in  love  as  long  as  the  sun  gave 
light ;  which  done,  another  made  a  speech  to  the  Indians 
in  the  name  of  all  the  Sachamakers  or  Kings ;  first  to  tell 
them  what  was  done  ;  next,  to  charge  and  command  them 
to  love  the  Christians,  and  particularly  to  live  in  peace 
with  me  and  the  people  under  my  government ;  that  many 
governors  had  been  in  the  river  ;  but  that  no  governor  had 
come  himself  to  live  and  .stay  there  before;  and  having 
now  such  an  one,  who  had  treated  them  well,  they  should 
never  do  him  or  his  any  wrong ;  at  every  sentence  of 
which  they  shouted,  and  said  Amen  in  their  way. 

"  We  have- agreed,  that  in  all  differences  between  us,  six 
of  each  side  shall  end  the  matter.  Do  not  abuse  them,  but 
let  them  have  justice,  and  you  win  them.  The  worst  is, 
that  they  are  the  worse  for  the  Christians,  who  have  pro 
pagated  their  vices,  and  yielded  them  tradition  for  ill  and 
not  for  good  things.  But  as  low  an  ebb  as  these  people 
are  at,  and  as  inglorious  as  their  own  condition  looks,  the 
Christians  have  not  outlived  their  sight  with  all  their  pre 
tensions  to  an  higher  manifestation.  What  good  then 
might  not  a  good  people  graft  where  there  is  so  distinct  a 
knowledge  left  of  good  and  evil  ?  I  beseech  God  to  in 
cline  the  hearts  of  all  that  come  into  these  parts  to  outlive 
the  knowledge  of  the  natives  by  a  fixt  obedience  to  their 
greater  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God ;  for  it  were  miser 
able  indeed  for  us  to  fall  under  the  just  censure  of  the 
poor  Indian  conscience,  while  we  make  profession  of  things 
so  far  transcending. 


()  F     W  1  L  L  I  A  M     1'  E  X  X  .  289 

"  For  their  original,  I  am  ready  to  believe  them  of  the 
Jewish  race,  I  mean  of  the  stock  of  the  ten  tribes,  and 
that  for  the  following  reasons ;  first,  they  were  to  go  to  a 
land  not  planted  nor  known,  which,  to  be  sure,  Asia  and 
Africa  were,  if  not  Europe:  and  He  who  intended  that 
extraordinary  judgment  upon  them,  might  make  the 
passage  not  uneasy  to  them,  as  it  is  not  impossible  in 
itself  from  the  easternmost  parts  of  Asia  to  the  western 
most  of  America.  In  the  next  place,  I  find  them  of  the 
like  countenance,  and  their  children  of  so  lively  re 
semblance,  that  a  man  would  think  himself  in  Duke's 
Place  or  Berry  Street,  in  London,  when  he  seeth  them. 
j>ut  this  is  not  all ;  they  agree  in  rites  ;  they  reckon  by 
moons ;  they  offer  their  first-fruits ;  they  have  a  kind  of 
feast  of  tabernacles ;  they  are  said  to  lay  their  altar  upon 
twelve  stones ;  their  mourning  a  year ;  with  many  other 
things  that  do  not  now  occur. 

"  Philadelphia,  the  expectation  of  those  who  arc  con 
cerned  in  this  province,  is  at  last  laid  out,  to  the  great 
content  of  those  here  who  are  any  way  interested  therein. 
The  situation  is  a  neck  of  land,  and  lieth  between  two 
navigable  rivers,  Delaware  and  Schuylkill,  whereby  it 
hath  two  fronts  upon  the  water,  each  a  mile,  and  two 
from  river  to  river.  Delaware  is  a  glorious  river;  but 
the  Schuylkill,  being  an  hundred  miles  beatable  above  the 
fulls,  and  its  course  north-east  towards  the  fountain  of 
Susquahanna  (that  tends  to  the  heart  of  the  province, 
and  both  sides  our  own),  it  is  like  to  be  a  great  part  of 
the  settlement  of  this  age.  This  I  will  say  for  the  good 
providence  of  God,  of  all  the  places  I  have  seen  in  the 
world  I  remember  not  one  better  seated ;  so  that  it  seems 
25  T 


290  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

to  me  to  have  been  appointed  for  a  town,  whether  we  re 
gard  the  rivers,  or  the  conveniency  of  the  coves,  docks 
and  springs,  the  loftiness  and  soundness  of  the  land,  and 
the  air,  held  by  the  people  of  these  parts  to  be  very  good. 

"  I  bless  God  I  am  fully  satisfied  with  the  country  and 
entertainment  I  got  in  it ;  for  I  find  that  particular  content 
which  hath  always  attended  me,  where  God  in  his  provi 
deuce  hath  made  it  my  place  and  service  to  reside.  You 
cannot  imagine  my  station  can  be  at  present  free  of  more 
than  ordinary  business  ;  and,  as  such,  I  may  say  it  is  a 
troublesome  work.  But  the  melhod  things  are  putting  in 
will  facilitate  the  charge,  and  give  an  easier  motion  to  the 
administration  of  affairs.  However,  as  it  is  some  men's 
duty  to  plough,  some  to  sow,  some  to  water,  and  some  to 
reap,  so  it  is  the  wisdom  as  well  as  the  duty  of  a  man  to 
yield  to  the  mind  of  Providence,  and  cheerfully  as  well  as 
carefully  embrace  and  follow  the  guidance  of  it." 

The  conference  with  Lord  Baltimore  was  renewed  this 
year,  as  agreed  upon  in  the  preceding,  relative  to  the 
boundaries  of  the  territories.  But  William  Pcnn,  finding 
that  the  difference  was  not  likely  to  be  soon  adjusted  by 
the  claimants,  referred  the  matter  to  the  Lords'  Committee 
of  Plantations  in  England  ;  subsequently  the  Lord  Balti 
more  commissioned  Colonel  George  Talbot  to  take  forcible 
possession. 

This  question  continued  for  many  years  to  be  a  subject 
of  controversy,  and  was  not  finally  adjusted  till  long  after 
William  Penn's  death.  Lord  Baltimore's  claim  included 
all  the  lands  on  the  western  side  of  the  Delaware  from 
Philadelphia  to  the  capes.  William  Penn  resisted  it  with 
firmness,  but  with  courtesy,  moderation,  and  candor. 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  291 

The  mind  of  William  Penn  had  been,  as  may  be  naturally 
supposed,  harassed  by  his  attention  to  his  various  Ameri 
can  concerns,  and  particularly  by  the  dispute  between  him 
and  the  Lord  Baltimore.  But  that  which  grieved  him 
most  was  the  receipt  of  accounts  from  England  at  the 
persecutions  under  which  persons  who  dissented  from  the 
Established  Church,  but  particularly  those  of  the  Society 
to  which  he  himself  belonged,  were  then  subjected  to  on 
account  of  their  religion.  Meetings  in  places  of  worship 
not  acknowledged  by  the  law  continued  to  be  deemed  riots, 
so  that  many  convicted  on  this  account  were  then  in  a  state 
of  suffering,  nearly  1500  members  of  his  Society  being  im 
prisoned  in  England  and  Wales. 

Accounts  of  these  persecutions  coming  to  his  ear  from 
time  to  time  across  the  Atlantic,  worked  upon  his  benevo 
lent  feelings  so  as  to  bring  him  by  degrees  to  the  resolution 
of  returning  to  England.  He  indulged  a  hope  that  his 
affairs  in  America  would  not  suffer  by  a  short  absence ; 
and  that  in  the  interim  he  might  become  an  instrument, 
by  using  his  personal  influence  with  the  king,  which,  on 
account  of  the  place  he  had  with  his  brother,  the  Duke  of 
York,  was  greater  than  that  of  any  other  Friend,  of -re 
lieving  the  sufferings  of  his  oppressed  countrymen  and 
Friends.  Xo  doubt  the  desire  he  had  to  settle  the  dispute 
with  Lord  Baltimore,  which  could  only  be  finally  terminated 
by  the  Lords'  Committee  of  Plantations  in  London,  in 
fluenced  him  the  same  way.  His  desire  and  duty  to  be 
with  his  wife  and  children,  who  were  riot,  probably,  able 
to  leave  their  affairs  at  home  and  undergo  the  privations 
of  a  new  settlement,  could  not  bit  draw  him  the  same 
way.  Nor  did  it  escape  him  that  by  meeting  his  enemies 


292  PASSAGES    FKOM    THE    LIFE 

there,  who  were  then  numerous,  he  would  be  enabled  to 
do  away  the  many  calumnies  which  they  had  propagated 
concerning  him  in  his  absence. 

But  many  things  were  to  be  done  before  he  could  depart 
with  satisfaction.  An  object  near  his  heart  wras  to  know 
not  only  all  the  Indians  within  his  own  domains  but  those 
bordering  upon  them,  with  a  view  to  their  civilization  and 
the  perpetuation  of  love  and  friendship  on  both  sides.  He 
had  held  frequent  conferences  with  them  for  these  purposes; 
in  which  he  had  advised  them  against  the  use  of  strong 
liquors,  and  endeavored  to  inculcate;  in  them  a  just  sense 
of  the  benefit  of  a  Christian  life  and  conduct ;  but  now  he 
redoubled  his  efforts,  and  this  witli  so  much  success  that, 
before  the  time  of  his  departure  came,  he  had  made,  at 
Pcnnsbury  and  other  places,  treaties  of  amity  with  no  less 
than  nineteen  tribes  of  a  different  name.  Indeed  nothing 
could  exceed  his  love  for  these  poor  people,  or  his  desire 
of  instructing*  them,  so  as  to  bring  them  by  degrees  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  and  in  this  great 
work  he  spared  no  expense,  though  whatever  he  bestowed 
in  this  way  came  solely  out  of  his  own  pocket.  Oldmixon 
sa}rs  "  that  he  laid  out  several  thousand  pounds  to  instruct, 
support,  and  oblige  them."  The  consequence  was,  on  their 
part,  an  attachment  to  him  and  his  successors  which  was 
never  broken. 

About  this  time  he  wrote  an  epistle  to  the  members  of 
his  own  religious  Society  in  Pennsylvania,  part  of  which 
is  subjoined : 

"  Friends,  it  is  upon  me,  and  long  hath  been,  from  the 
God  of  truth  and  righteousness,  to  communicate  to  you  a 
short  word  of  counsel  and  advice.  God  hath  brought  us 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  293 

hither,  and  we  are  yet  among  the  living.  He  hath  a  work 
for  us  to  do  here,  though  the  spiteful  and  envious  will  not 
believe  us.  0  that  we  may  be  faithful  to  the  measure  of 
grace  received,  that  the  evil-minded  may  be  disappointed! 
Friends,  keep  in  the  sense  of  that  which  first  visited  you 
and  kept  you,  and  lie  that  was  with  you  to  bless  you  in 
your  native  country,  will  be  with  you  and  bless  v'ou  and 
vours,  and  make  you  a  blessing  to  them  that  you  are 
come  among,  who  know  Him  not,  in  this  wilderness, 
also.  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  his  presence  fills  it, 
and  his  power  upholds  it,  and  it  is  a  precious  thing  to 
enjoy  and  use  it  in  the  sense  and  feeling  of  the  same; 
truly  this  honor  have  all  the  saints,  to  whom  He  will 
give  it  for  a  quiet  habitation.  Have  a  care  of  cumber  and 
the  love  and  care  of  the  world.  It  is  the  temptation  that 
lieth  nearest  to  those  who  are  redeemed  from  looseness,  or 
not  addicted  to  it.  God  hath  ordained  the  world  for  a 
footstool,  and  we  must  not  make  a  throne  of  it,  nor  doth 
it  become  them  who  seek  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Show  forth  a  blessed  example,  for  the  Lord's  sake ;  and 
truly,  blessed  is  that  man  and  woman  who  in  the  invisible 
power  rule  their  an'ections  about  the  visible  things,  and 
who  use  the  world  as  true  travellers  and  pilgrims,  whose 
home  is  not  here  below ;  such  do  not  extort,  grind,  or 
oppress  their  neighbors  in  their  dealings,  but  are  con 
tent  with  moderate  gain,  looking  to  the  blessing  that  fol 
lows.  And,  dear  friends,  remember  who  it  was  that  said 
to  his  children  and  followers,  '  Ye  are  brethren ; '  where 
fore  love  one  another,  and  help  and  assist  and  comfort  one 
another.  This  was  the  new  and  living  commandment  of 
our  blessed  Lord  and  Master,  which  if  you  keep,  then  can 


294  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

vou  not  fall  out,  backbite,  slander,  go  to  law,  or  hate  ono 
another,  in  the  sight  of  the  world,  and  that  for  the  things 
that  perish. 

"My  friends,  remember  that  the  Lord  hath  brought 
yo'i  upon  the  stage,  He  hath  now  tried  you  with  liberty, 
yea,  and  with  power,  too  ;  He  hath  now  put  precious  oppor 
tunities  into  your  hands ;  have  a  care  of  a  perverse  spirit, 
and  do  not  provoke  the  Lord ;  but  sanctify  God,  the  living 
God,  in  your  hearts,  that  his  blessings  may  fall  and  rest  as 
the  dew  of  heaven  upon  you  and  your  offspring ;  then 
shall  it  be  seen  by  the  nations,  that  there  is  no  enchant 
ment  against  Jacob,  nor  divination  against  Israel,  but 
your  tents  shall  be  goodly,  and  your  dwellings  glorious ; 
which  is  the  daily  humble  supplication  of  my  soul  to  my 
God  and  your  God,  and  to  my  Father  and  your  Father." 

While  he  was  making  preparations  for  going  to  Eng 
land,  the  ketch  Endeavour  arrived  from  there,  and  an 
chored  off  Philadelphia.  She  brought  passengers  and 
letters,  among  them  one  to  William  Penn  from  Stephen 
Crisp,  his  old  friend,  to  whom  he  wrote  with  so  much 
feeling  at  the  time  of  his  first  sailing  for  his  new  colony. 
It  is  the  tender  counsel  of  a  man  of  great  wisdom  and 
spiritual  discernment ;  who  knew  his  friend  well,  and  had 
a  sense  of  the  trials  which  were  upon  him  and  awaiting 
him,  and  of  his  need  to  "receive  a  sound  judgment  of 
men,"  to  be  a  defence  against  his  own  generosity  and 
nobility  of  spirit. 

"DEARLY  BELOVED  IN  THE  LORD: 

"  My  soul  salutes  thee  in  the  fellowship  of  that  life  that 
reigns  over  death  and  darkness,  in  which  is  the  kingdom 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  295 

we  seek.  Nothing  enters  this  kingdom  but  what  is  born 
of  this  life  immortal ;  and  that  we  may  be  kept  in  it  to  the 
end  of  our  days  is  the  humble  prayer  of  thy  true  friend 
and  brother  in  this  heavenly  relation,  in  which  thou  may 
feel  my  integrity  in  a  few  words. 

"Dear  William,  I  have  had  a  great  exercise  of  spirit 
concerning  thec,  which  none  knows  but  the  Lord  ;  for  my 
spirit  hath  been  much  bowed  into  thy  concern,  and  dif 
ficulty  of  thy  present  circumstance.  I  have  had  a  sense 
of  the  various  spirits,  and  intricate  cares,  and  multiplicity 
of  affairs,  and  they  of  various  kinds,  which  daily  attend 
thee,  enough  to  drink  up  thy  spirit  and  tire  thy  soul ;  and 
which,  if  it  is  not  kept  to  the  inexhaustible  fountain,  may 
be  dried  up.  This  I  must  tell  thee  which  thou  also  knows, 
that  the  highest  capacity  of  natural  wit  and  parts  will  not, 
and  cannot,  perform  what  thou  hast  to  do :  viz.,  to  propa 
gate  and  advance  the  interest  and  profit  of  the  govern 
ment  and  plantation,  and  at  the  same  time  to  give  the  in 
terest  of  Truth  and  testimony  of  the  holy  name  of  God  its 
due  preference  in  all  things ;  for  to  make  the  wilderness 
sing  forth  the  praise  of  God  is  a  skill  beyond  the  wisdom 
of  this  world.  It  is  greatly  in  man's  power  to  make  a 
wilderness  into  fruitful  fields,  according  to  the  com 
mon  course  of  God's  providence,  who  gives  wisdom 
and  strength  to  be  industrious ;  but,  then,  how  He  who  is 
the  Creator,  may  have  his  due  honor*  and  service  thereby, 
is  only  taught  by  his  spirit,  in  them  who  singly  wait  upon 
Him/ 

"There  is  a  wisdom  in  government  that  hath  respect  to 
its  own.  preservation  by  setting  up  what  is  profitable  to  it, 
and  suppressing  what  may  be  a  detriment.  This  is  the 


296  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

image  of  the  true  wisdom  ;  but  the  substance  is  the  birth 
that  is  heavenly,  which  reigns  in  the  Father's  kingdom 
till  all  is  subdued,  and  then  gives  it  up  to  Him  whose  it 
is.  There  is  a  power  on  earth  which  is  of  God,  by  wrhich 
princes  decree  justice — this  is  the  image ;  and  there  is  a 
power  which  is  heavenly,  in  which  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
the  Lord  of  lords,  doth  reign  in  an  everlasting  kingdom, 
and  this  is  the  substance.  By  this  power  is  the  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places  brought  down.  He  that  is  a 
true  delegate  in  this  power  can  do  great  things  for  God's 
glory,  and  shall  have  his  reward,  and  shall  be  a  judge 
of  the  tribes;  and  whosoever  else  pretend  to  judgment 
Avill  seek  themselves.  Beware  of  them ;  the  times  are 
perilous.  All  men  pretending  to  be  believers  have  not 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus ;  thou  hast  a  good  comprehen 
sion  of  things,  wait  also  to  receive  a  sound  judgment  of 
men. 

"  I  hope  thou  wilt  bear  this  my  style  of  writing  to  thee; 
my  spirit  is  under  great  weight  at  the  writing  hereof,  and 
much  I  have  in  my  heart,  because  I  love  thee  much.  I 
cannot  write  much  at  present,  but  to  let  thee  know  I  very 
kindly  received  thy  letter,  and  was  glad  to  hear  from  thee, 
and  always  shall  be.  My  prayer  to  God  is  for  thee  and 
you  all,  that  you  may  be  kept  in  the  Lord's  pure  and  holy 
way  ;  and  above  all,  for  thee,  dear  W.  P.,  whose  feet  are 
upon  a  mountain,  by  which  the  eyes  of  many  are  upon 
thee.  The  Lord  furnish  thee  with  wisdom,  courage,  and 
a  sound  judgment.  Prefer  the  Lord's  interest,  and  He 
will  make  thy  way  prosperous. 

"  Well,  dear  William,  I  might  write  long  ere  all  were 
written  that  lives  in  my  heart  towards  thcc,  but,  in  summa, 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  297 

I  love  thee  well,  and  salute  thee  dearly,  in  that  which  ia 
unchangeable,  in  which 

"  I  remain  thy  true  friend,  STEPHEN  CRISP. 

"LONDON,  the  4th  of  the  Third  month,  1684." 

Having  made  the  necessary  dispositions  relative  to  the 
administration  of  the  government  during  his  absence, 
strictly  charging  the  officers  entrusted  with  the  principal 
authority  to  do  justice  to  all  of  all  degrees,  without  delay, 
fear,  or  regard,  he  repaired  on  board  the  vessel  which  was 
to  convey  him  to  the  land  of  his  nativity.  He  wrote  from 
on  board  the  vessel  the  following  epistle,  viz. : 

" For  Thomas  Lloyd,  J.  Claypoole,  J.  Simcock,  Charles 
Taylor,  and  J.  Harrison,  to  be  communicated  in  meet 
ings  in  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  among  Friends. 

"  DEAR  FRIENDS  : — My  love  and  my  life  is  to  you  and 
with  you  ;  and  no  water  can  quench  it,  nor  distance  wear 
it  out  or  bring  it  to  an  end.  I  have  been  with  you,  cared 
over  you,  and  served  you  with  unfeigned  love ;  and  you 
are  beloved  of  me  and  near  to  me  beyond  utterance.  I 
bless  you  in  the  name  and  power  of  the  Lord  ;  and  my 
God  bless  you  with  his  righteousness,  peace,  and  plenty, 
all  the  land  over.  Oh,  that  you  would  eye  Him  in  all. 
through  all,  and  above  all  the  works  of  your  hands ;  ano 
let  it  be  your  first  care  how  you  may  glorify  God  in  your 
undertakings.  For  to  a  blessed  end  are  you  brought 
hither  ;  and  if  you  see  and  keep  in  the  sense  of  that  Provi 
dence,  your  coming,  staying,  and  improving  will  be  sancti 
fied  ;  but  if  any  forget  God,  and  call  not  upon  his  name 
in  Truth,  He  will  pour  out  his  plagues  upon  them ;  and 


298  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

they  shall  know  who  it  is  that  judgeth  the  children  of 
men. 

"  0,  you  are  now  come  to  a  quiet  land ;  provoke  not 
the  Lord  to  trouble  it.  And  now  that  liberty  and  authority 
are  with  you,  and  in  your  hands,  let  the  government  be 
upon  his  shoulders,  in  all  your  spirits ;  that  you  may  rule 
for  Him,  under  whom  the  princes  of  this  world  will  one 
day  esteem  it  their  honor  to  govern  and  serve  in  their 
places.  I  cannot  but  say,  when  these  things  come  mightily 
upon  my  mind,  as  the  apostle  did  of  old,  '  What  manner 
of  persons  ought  we  to  be,  in  all  holy  conversation  and 
godliness  ? ' 

"And  thou,  Philadelphia,  the  virgin  settlement  of  this 
province,  named  before  thou  wert  born,  what  love,  what 
care,  w*hat  service,  and  what  travail  has  there  been  to  bring 
thee  forth  and  preserve  thee  from  such  as  would  abuse  and 
defile  thee ! 

"  0  that  thou  mayst  be  kept  from  the  evil  that  would 
overwhelm  thee  !  that,  faithful  to  the  God  of  thy  mercies, 
in  the  life  of  righteousness  thou  mayst  be  preserved  to  the 
end.  My  soul  prays  to  God  for  thee,  that  thou  mayst 
stand  in  the  day  of  trial,  that  thy  children  may  be  blessed 
of  the  Lord,  and  thy  people  saved  by  his  power. 

"  So,  dear  friends,  my  love  again  salutes  you  all,  wish 
ing  that  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  with  all  temporal  bless 
ings,  may  abound  richly  among  you;  so  says,  so  prays 
your  friend  and  lover  in  the  Truth, 

WILLIAM  PENN. 

*  From  on  board  the  ketch  Endeavor,  the  Sixth  month,  1 684." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  299 


XV. 

WILLIAM  PENN  landed  ID  England  after  a  passage 
of  about  seven  weeks.  A  letter  has  been  preserved 
which  he  wrote  soon  after  his  arrival  to  Margaret  Fox,  the 
wife  of  George  Fox,  in  which  he  says :  "It  is  now  a  few 
days  above  three  weeks  since  I  arrived  well  in  my  native 
land.  It  was  within  seven  miles  of  my  own  house,  where 
I  found  my  dear  wife  and  poor  children  well,  to  the  over 
coming  of  my  heart,  because  of  the  mercies  of  the  Lord  to 
us."  We  find  by  this  letter,  in  which  he  thanked  her  for 
the  love  she  had  shown  his  wife  during  his  absence,  "  that 
he  had  not  missed  a  meal's  meat  or  a  night's  rest  since  he 
went  to  that  country  ;  and  that  wonderfully  had  the  Lord 
preserved  him  through  many  troubles,  in  the  settlement 
he  had  made,  both  with  respect  to  the  government  and  the 
soil."  With  respect  to  the  settlement,  notwithstanding 
the  false  reports  in  circulation, — reports  arising  from  envy, 
he  could  say  "  that  things  went  on  sweetly  with  Friends 
there  ;  that  many  increased  finely  in  their  outward  things, 
and  grew  also  in  wisdom,  and  that  their  meetings  were 
blessed,  of  which  there  were  no  less  than  eighteen  in  the 
province." 

Another  letter  has  been  preserved  which  he  wrote,  some 
weeks  after  that  to  Margaret  Fox,  to  his  friend  Stephen 
Crisp.  This  worthy  minister  had  written  to  him  since 
his  arrival  in  England,  to  inform  him  of  the  many  reports 


300  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

in  circulation  that  were  injurious  to  his  character.  One 
of  the  charges  that  were  made  against  him  was,  that  he  had 
dishonored  his  religious  profession  as  a  Quaker.  To  this 
he  replied  "  that  he  knew  of  no  act  of  hostility.  There 
was  an  old  timber-house  at  Newcastle,  above  the  sessions- 
chamber,  standing  upon  a  green,  on  which  lay  seven  old  iron 
small  cannon,  some  on  the  ground,  and  others  on  broken  car 
riages  ;  but  there  was  neither  a  military  man,  nor  powder, 
nor  bullet,  belonging  to  them.  They  were  the  property 
of  the  government  of  New  York.  How  far  the  people 
of  Newcastle  might,  in  consequence  of  Colonel  Talbot's 
threatening,  have  drawn  them  into  security,  and  paled 
about  their  prison  since  he  came  away,  he  could  not  tell ; 
but  he  was  sure  that,  while  he  was  there,  no  soldier  or 
militiaman  was  ever  seen  ;  nor  had  any  individual  any 
commission  of  war  from  him,  nor  was  there  any  law  to 
that  end.  With  respect  to  making  money  of  the  settle 
ment,  another  of  the  charges,  he  had  never  made  it  a  matter 
of  gain,  but  had  hazarded  his  life,  and  maintained  govern 
ment  and  Governor  these  four  years  past.  With  respect 
to  the  alteration  of  the  charter,  about  which  there  had  been 
so  much  clamor,  what  had  been  altered  (and  that  very 
little)  had  been  by  the  people's  desire,  and  not  for  any  end 
of  his  own.  Besides  the  alteration  was  not  immutable,  as 
it  was  to  be  submitted  to  time  and  place  and  the  public 
good.  And  with  regard  to  the  addition  lately  made  to 
Philadelphia,  it  could  afford  no  just  cause  of  complaint. 
He  had  bought  the  land  there  of  the  old  inhabitants,  the 
Swedes.  This  had  enabled  him  to  add  eight  hundred  acres 
to  the  city,  and  a  mile  on  a  navigable  river.  What  he  had 
thus  bought,  he  had  given  freely  to  the  public ;  though, 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  301 

hful  he  retained  it,  considering-  its  situation,  it  had  been 
of  extraordinary  advantage  to  himself.  But  he  could  not,' 
he  said,  "hope  to  please  all." 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  England  lie  waited  on  the  king 
and  Duke  of  York,  as  related  in  the  following  extract  from 
fragments  of  an  autobiography,  published  by  the  Historical 
Society  of  Philadelphia : 

"  I  arrived  from  America  the  6th  of  October,  '84,  at 
Wonder,  in  Sussex,  being  within  seven  miles  of  my  own 
house ;  whence,  after  some  days  of  refreshment,  I  went 
to  wait  upon  the  king  and  duke,  then  both  at  Now  Mar 
ket,  who  received  me  very  graciously,  as  did  the  ministers 
very  civilly.  Yet  I  found  things  in  general  with  another 
face  than  I  left  them — sour  and  stern,  and  resolved  to  hold 
the  reins  of  power  with  a  stifle r  hand  than  heretofore,  es 
pecially  over  those  that  were  observed  to  be  state  or  church 
dissenters,  conceiving  that  the  opposition  which  made  the 
government  uneasy  came  from  that  sort  of  people,  and, 
therefore,  they  should  cither  bow  or  break. 

"  This  made  it  hard  for  me,  a  professed  dissenter,  to 
turn  myself;  for  that  party  having  been  my  acquaintance, 
my  inclination,  and  my  interest  too:  to  shift  them  I  would 
not,  to  serve  them  I  saw  I  could  not,  and  to  keep  fair  with 
a  displeased  and  resolved  government,  that  had  weathered 
its  point  upon  them,  humbled  and  mortified  them,  and  was 
daily  improving  all  advantages  against  them,  was  a  diffi 
cult  task  to  perform. 

"  Finding  myself  narrowed  in  this  manner,  I  cast  about 

in  mind  what  way  I  might  be  helpful  to  the  public  and  as 

little  hurtful  to  my  concerns  as  I  could,  for  I  had  then  a 

cause  depending  about  bounds  of  land  in  America  with 

26 


802  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  Lord  Baltimore,  before  the  council,  that  was  of  im 
portance  to  me. 

"  Upon  the  whole  matter,  I  found  no  point  so  plain,  so 
honest,  so  sensible,  that  carried  such  weight,  conviction, 
and  compassion  with  it,  and  that  would  consequently  find 
an  easier  reception  and  more  friends  than  liberty  of  con 
science,  my  old  post  and  province.  I  therefore  sought  out 
some  bleeding  cases,  which  was  not  hard  to  do,  Bristol, 
Norwich,  etc.,  being-  ready  at  hand  in  bloody  letters, — bar 
barities  never  used  certainly  in  a  Protestant  country, 
especially  at  Bristol.  The  relations  are  in  print.  But 
finding  them  uneasy  under  generals,  as  too  much  to  grant 
at  once,  I  began  with  a  particular  case.  It  was  that  of 
Richard  Viekris,  an  honest,  sober,  and  sensible  man,  of 
good  reputation  and  estate  in  that  city.  He  was  under 
sentence  of  death,  upon  the  statute  of  the  35th  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  for  not  abjuring  the  realm  as  Dr.  Cheny  did, 
that  was  under  sentence.  His  crime  only  worshipping 
of  God  his  own  way,  but  could  not  abjure  because  he 
could  not  swear  at  all.  The  heat  had  been  great  in  that 
city,  and  an  example  they  would  make,  and  chose  these 
t\vo  men,  as  eminent  in  their  persuasion  and  as  having 
something  to  lose.  But  the  thing  looked  so  like  a  snare, 
the  fruit  of  private  malice  and  avarice,  and  the  said  R. 
Yickris  being  a  meek  and  quiet  person,  upon  my  assuring 
them  he  was,  and  would  live  peaceably  under  the  govern 
ment,  the  duke  promised  to  press  the  king  in  his  favor, 
who  grew  harsh  and  very  tender  to  be  spoken  to  upon 
that  head,  though  for  the  very  Papists  in  the  new  case  of 
the  long  writ  set  a-foot  about  that  time.  And  the  duke 
was  as  good  as  his  word.  He  was  pardoned. 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  803 

"  That  my  design  might  succeed  the  better  with  the 
king,  it  came  into  my  mind  to  write  something  of  the 
true  interest  of  the  king  and  kingdom,  have  it  transcribed 
Fair,  and  present  it  in  manuscript,  the  times  being  too  set 
and  rough  for  print:  In  this  I  undertook  to  show,  that 
since  it  was  so  that  this  kingdom  was  divided  into  such 
great  bodies,  opposite  to  each  other,  and  near  an  equality 
in  strength  and  value,  all  things  considered,  though  not 
perhaps  in  number,  and  that  nothing  would  serve  either 
party  but  the  ruin  of  the  other,  and  that  it  was  too  great 
a  loss  to  his  crown  to  gratify  either  so  far,  he  was  not  to 
suffer  his  authority  to  humor  their  passions,  but  overrule 
both  with  justice,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  that  he  might 
be  king  and  have  the  benefit  of  his  whole  people. 

"Adding,  that  he  might  be  easy  if  the  uneasy  are  made 
so,  and  not  sooner ;  and  that  the  revenue  was  not  as  in 
old  time,  upon  tenures  and  in  lands,  but  upon  trade,  which 
lay  much  in  the  hands  of  the  party  he  was  angry  with ; 
however,  that  it  would  discourage  and  confound  trade,  to 
be  sure,  if  he  changed  the  course  of  his  government,  and 
therefore  to  look  upon  past  things  as  a  king,  and  not  as  a 
man,  without  passion,  and  not  suffer  his  own  resentment 
or  his  ministers'  flatteries,  interests,  or  revenges  to  carry 
him  further  than  was  good  for  his  interest.  And  that 
upon  the  trial  of  a  true  liberty  of  conscience,  he  would 
find  [it]  more  the  advantage  of  the  crown  than  any  pri 
vate  man  or  particular  party." 

A  letter  of  William  Penn  to  Thomas  Lloyd,  dated  the 
IGth  of  the  First  month  (March),  1685,  informs  him  of 
the  death  of  King  Charles  II. : 

"  The  king  is  dead,  and  the  duke  succeeds  peaceably 


304  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LlfE 

TTo  was  well  on  First  day  night,  being-  the  first  of  Feb 
ruary,  so  called.  About  eight  next  morning,  as  he  sat 
down  to  shave,  his  head  twitched  both  ways  or  sides. 
and  he  gave  a  shriek  and  fell  'as  dead,  and  so  remained 
some  hours.  They  opportunely  blooded  and  cupped  him 
and  plied  his  head  with  red-hot  frying-pans.  He  returned 
(revived),  and  continued  till  Sixth  day  noon,  but  mostly 
in  great  tortures.  He  seemed  very  penitent,  asking  par 
don  of  all,  even  the  poorest  subject  ho  had  wronged  ; 
prayed  for  pardon,  and  to  be  delivered  out  of  the  world 
. — the  duke  appearing  mighty  humble  and  sorrowful.  .  .  . 
He  was  an  able  man  for  a  divided  and  troubled  kingdom. 
The  present  king  was  proclaimed  about  iliree  o'clock  that 
day.  A  proclamation  followed,  with  the  king's  speech,  to 
maintain  the  church  and  state  as  established,  to  keep  prop 
erty  and  use  clemency.  Severities  continue  still,  but  some 
ease  to  us  faintly  promised.  Be  careful  that  no  indecent 
speeches  pass  against  the  government,  for  the  king,  going 
with  his  queen  publicly  to  mass  at  Whitehall,  gives  occa 
sion.  He  declared  he  concealed  himself  to  obey  his  nrother, 
and  that  now  he  would  be  above-board,  which  we  like  the 
better  on  many  accounts.  I  was  with  him,  and  told  him 
so  ;  but,  withal,  hoped  we  si.  mid  come  in  for  a  share.  lie 
smiled,  and  said  he  desired  not  that  peaceable  people  should 
be  disturbed  for  their  religion.  And  till  his  coronation,  the 
23d,  when  he  and  his  consort  are  together  to  be  crowned, 
no  hopes  of  release;  and  till  the  Parliament  no  hopes  of 
any  fixed  liberty.  My  business,  I  would  hope,  is  better. 
The  late  king,  the  Papists  will  have,  died  a  Roman  Cath 
olic;  for  he  refused  (after  his  usual  way  of  evading  un 
easy  things,  with  unpreparedness  first  and  then  weakness* 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  305 

the  Church  of  England's  communion,  Bishop  Ken,  of  Wells, 
pressing-  him  that  it  would  be  to  his  comfort  and  that  of 
his  people  to  see  he  died  of  that  religion  he  had  made  pro 
fession  of  when  living,  but  it  would  not  do ;  and  once  all 
but  the  duke,  Earl  of  Bath,  and  Lord  Feversham  were 
turned  out,  and  one  Huddlestone,  a  Romish  priest,  was 
seen  about  that  time  near  the  chamber.  This  is  most  of 
our  news.  The  popish  lords  and  gentry  go  to  Whitehall 
to  mass  daily,  and  the  tower  or  royal  chapel  is  crammed, 
by  vicing  with  the  Protestant  lords  and  gentry. 

"Alas !  the  world  is  running  over  to  you  ;  and  great 
quantities  together  [alluding  to  large  purchases  made  by 
speculators  at  first  prices]  is  to  put  the  sale  of  lands  out 
of  my  own  hands,  after  I  have  spent  what  I  got  by  my 
own  on  the  public  service,  for  I  am  £3000  worse  in  my 
estate  than  at  first :  I  can  say  it  before  the  Lord :  I  have 
only  the  comfort  of  having  approved  myself  a  faithful 
steward  to  my  understanding  and  ability ;  and  yet  I  hope 
my  children  shall  receive  it  in  the  love  of  yours  when 
we  arc  gone."  "  Keep  up  the  people's  hearts  and  loves, 
etc.  I  hope  to  be  with  them  next  fall,  if  the  Lord  pre 
vent  not.  I  long  to  be  with  you.  No  temptations  pre 
vail  to  fix  me  here.  The  Lord  send  us  a  good  meeting. 
Amen,  etc," 

William  Penn  had  for  many  years  been  admitted  to 
familiar  friendship  by  James,  while  Duke  of  York.  Being 
desirous  of  improving  the  influence  which  he  possessed 
with  the  king,  to  the  advantage  of  his  suffering  friends, 
he  took  lodgings  at  Kensington,  a  village  two  miles  west 
of  London.  He  appears  to  have  made  it  his  business  to 
serve  his  friends  ;  and  as  every  man  is  a  friend  to  him  that 


306  PASSAGES    FROM     THE    LIFE 

giveth  gifts,  he  soon  found  the  number  of  his  very  great. 
His  house  and  gates  were  daily  thronged  with  clients  and 
suppliants  desiring  him  to  present  their  addresses  to  the 
king.  According  to  Gerard  Croese,  there  were  sometimes 
upwards  of  two  hundred  of  these  applicants  in  attendance. 
But  instead  of  becoming  impatient  with  their  importu 
nity,  he  treated  them  with  the  utmost  kindness,  and  pro 
moted  their  desires  with  promptitude  and  cheerfulness. 
Instead  of  seeking  emolument  from  these  incessant  labors, 
he  often  defrayed,  out  of  his  own  funds,  the  expense  un 
avoidably  attendant  upon  the  preparation  of  the  documents 
which  passed  through  his  hands.  Yet,  numerous  as  were 
the  applications  for  the  employment  of  his  interest  at  court, 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  waited  for  an  application  when 
he  knew  of  cases  in  which  his  interference  could  be  of  use  ; 
nor  were  his  efforts  confined  to  those  in  which  the  members 
of  his  own  religious  Society  were  concerned. 

Soon  after  the  accession  of  King  James,  an  address  was 
presented  to  him  showing  that  upward  of  1400  members  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  were  prisoners  in  England  and 
Wales,  on  account  of  their  religion.  "  Besides  some 
hundreds  had  died  prisoners,  many  by  means  of  this 
long  imprisonment,  since  the  year  1G80,  thereby  making 
widows  and  fatherless,  and  leaving  poor  innocent  families 
desolate  in  distress  and  sorrow."  But  they  were  not 
freed  till  a  year  afterwards,  and  then  chiefly  through 
William  Perm's  efforts. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  by  William 
Penn  to  his  steward,  James  Harrison,  dated  Kensing 
ton,  llth  of  Fifth  month  (July),  1685.  "We  are  all 
well  through  the  Lord'js  mercy,  and  long  to  be  with  you, 


OF     WILLIAM    PEXN.  307 

especially  the  children ;  my  business  here  has  been 
thrown  off,  with  other  people's,  first  by  the  late  king's 
death,  then  the  coronation,  next  the  Parliament,  now  this 
insurrection,  almost  over,  for  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  ia 
defeated,  and  he  and  Grey  taken ;  will  be  brought  up  to 
London  next  third  day.  I  hope  now  I  may  be  dispatched. 
We  had  a  blessed,  quiet,  though  but  a  small  General  Meet 
ing  ;  things  are  very  well  on  Truth's  account  in  this  nation 
and  Ireland. 

"  Salute  me  to  Friends  generally,  and  to  your  meeting 
especially.  I  beseech  God  to  bless  you  with  Joseph's 
portion.  My  love  to  my  family  [his  servants  at  Penns- 
bury]. 

"  0  that  they  would,  from  the  Lord,  be  sober  and  dili 
gent,  that  they  may  have  a  good  name  and  be  my  joy." 

The  Duke  of  Monmouth's  insurrection  and  defeat  was 
followed  by  many  cruel  executions.  In  a  letter  of  Penn 
to  James  Harrison,  dated  2d  of  Eighth  month  (October), 
1085,  he  says :  "About  three  hundred  hanged  in  divers 
towns  in  the  west,  about  one  thousand  to  be  transported. 
I  begged  twenty  of  the  king.  Col.  Holmes,  young  Hays, 
the  two  Ilewlings,  Lark,  and  Hix,  ministers,  are  executed. 
Preparations  in  Westminster  Hall  for  trial  of  Lords  Grey, 
Delamere,  Gerard,  etc.  Sir  G.  Gerard  and  Sir  R.  Cotton 
committed. 

"  The  keeper  dead,  and  Lord  Jeffreys,  Chief- Justice  and 

Baron  of  W ,  made  Lord  Chamberlain,  and  is,  as  said, 

to  be  Earl  of  C ." 

In  another  of  his  letters  to  his  steward,  near  the  same 
date,  he  thus  refers  to  two  ^executions  which  had  jast 
taken  place,  one  of  them  of  an  excellent  woman  who  had 


308  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

spent  her  life  in  doing  gocd  to  the  poor.  "  There  is  daily 
inquisition  for  those  engaged  in  the  late  plots,  some  die 
denying,  as  Alderman  Cornish,  others  confessing,  but 
justifying.  Cornish  died  last  sixth  day,  in  Cheapside,  for 
being  at  the  meeting  that  Lord  Russell  died  for,  but 
denied  it  most  vehemently  to  the  last.  A  woman,  one 
Gaunt  of  Wappen,  of  Doct.  Moore's  acquaintance,  was 
burned  the  same  day  at  Tyburn  for  the  high  treason  of 
hiding  one  of  Monmouth's  army,  and  the  man  saved  came 
in  [as  witness]  against  her.  She  died  composedly  and 
fearless,  interpreting  the  cause  of  hor  death  God's  cause. 
Many  more  to  be  hanged,  great  and  small.  It  is  a  day  to 
be  wise.  I  long  to  be  with  you,  but  the  eternal  God  do 
as  he  pleases.  0 !  be  watchful,  fear  and  sanctify  the 
Lord  in  your  hearts.  In  France,  not  a  meeting  of  Prot 
estants  left ;  they  force  all,  by  not  suffering  them  to 
sleep,  to  conform ;  they  use  drums  or  fling  water  on  the 
drowsy  till  they  submit  or  run  mad.  They  pray  to  be 
killed,  but  the  king  has  ordered  his  dragoons  to  do  any 
thing  but  kill.  *  *  *  Such  as  fly  and  are  caught,  are  ex 
ecuted  or  sent  to  the  galleys  to  row.  Thus  they  use  all 
qualities,  from  dukes  and  duchesses  to  the  meanest  of  that 
way.  Many  [persons]  and  much  wealth  will  visit  your 
parts.  Be  wise,  weighty,  and  strict  against  looseness. 
Believe  me,  it  is  an  extraordinary  day,  such  as  has  not 
been  since  generations  ago.  Read-  this  to  weighty  Friends 
and  magistrates,  in  private,  and  gird  up  your  loins  and 
serve  the  Lord  in  this  juncture.  No  matter  in  what  part 
they  settle  in  our  country,  let  not  temporal  interest  sway, 
on  my  land  or  on  their?  that  have  bought  of  me ;  no  matter, 
the  public  will  [gain]  in  a  while  by  their  establishment.'' 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  309 

The  history  of  Monmouth's  invasion  has  little  connec 
tion  with  the  biography  of  William  Penn,  except  as  ho 
was  indirectly  involved  in  its  consequences.  It  is  well 
known  that  after  the  defeat  of  the  duke,  the  military 
commanders,  Feversham  and  Kirk,  manifested  very  great 
cruelty  towards  his  unfortunate  accomplices ;  and  that 
Chief-justice  Jeffreys  astonished  and  disgusted  the  nation 
by  the  severity  with  which  he  punished  those  who  were 
charged  with  participating  in  the  rebellion.  So  great 
indeed  was  the  terror  infused  into  the  juries  by  the  men 
aces  of  the  judge,  that  very  little  evidence  of  guilt  was 
required  to  insure  conviction ;  and  -so  unrelenting  the 
rigor  with  which  trifling  offences  were  visited,  that  some 
were  executed  for  having  furnished  hay  or  victuals  to 
Monmouth's  soldiers.  The  sufferers  being  mostly  persons 
in  the  humbler  walks  of  life,  could  not  1be  objects  of 
jealousy  with  the  court.  Hence  the  severity  with  which 
they  were  treated  created  the  greater  odium.  Although 
these  barbarities  were  originally  inflicted  by  the  military 
and  judicial  organs  of  the  government,  the  king  turned 
the  odium  upon  himself  by  rewarding  the  inhumanity  of 
Jefl'reys  with  a  peerage  and  the  office  of  chancellor.  The 
measures  which  followed  were  generally  considered  as 
clear  indications  of  a  determination,  on  the  part  of  the 
king,  to  govern  the  nation  without  regard  to  the  restraints 
of  law ;  and  the  proceedings  in  favor  of  the  Romish  re 
ligion  awakened  anew  the  dread  of  popery  and  arbitrary 
power,  which  the  declaration  of  James,  upon  his  accession 
to  the  crown,  had  contributed  to  allay. 

Every  part  of  William  Perm's  conduct  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  countenanced  none  of  these  things,  yet 


31.0  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

his  intimacy  at  court,  and  his  supposed  influence  with  the 
king,  turned  upon  him  no  inconsiderable  share  of  the 
odium  which  attended  the  religion  of  the  king  and  the 
measures  of  government.  But  in  this  case,  as  usually 
happens,  the  tongue  of  slander  defeated  its  own  purposes, 
at  least  with  posterity,  by  loading  his  character  with 
charges  too  inconsistent  with  its  general  tenor  to  admit 
of  belief.  Not  satisfied  with  imputing  to  him  a  participa 
tion  in  the  political  errors  of  James,  over  which  he  certainly 
had  no  control,  they  represented  him  to  be  Papist  or  Jesuit, 
or  engaged  in  a  correspondence  with  the  Jesuits  at  Rome. 
He  was  even  said  to  have  "been  bred  at  St.  Omer's,  and  to 
have  received  a  priest's  orders  at  Rome.  As  it  was  ob 
vious  he  was  married,  which  the  Romish  priests  were 
not  permitted  to  be,  it  was  asserted  that  he  had  obtained 
a  dispensation  from  the  pope  for  that  purpose. 

The  charge  of  his  being  at  least  popishly  inclined,  some 
persons  even  in  the  higher  ranks  appear  to  have  given 
credit  to.  Among  this  class  was  Dr.  Tillotson,  afterwards 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  having  imbibed  a  suspi 
cion  of  him,  dropped  some  expressions  which  were  after 
wards  reported  to  his  disadvantage.  This  coming  to  the 
ears  of  William  Penn,  he  wrote  to  the  doctor  on  the  sub 
ject ;  a  correspondence  followed,  which  terminated  in  a 
full  conviction,  in  the  mind  of  the  latter,  that  the  sus 
picion  was  groundless.  The  correspondence  is  subjoined. 

William  Penn  to  Dr.  Tillotson. 

"  WORTHY  FRIEND  :— Being  often  told  that  Dr.  Tillot 
son  should  suspect  me,  and  so  report  me,  a  Papist,  I  think 
a  Jesuit,  and  being  closely  prest,  I  take  the  liberty  to  ask 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  311 

thee  if  any  such  reflection  fell  from  thee ;  if  it  did,  I  am 
sorry  one  I  esteemed  ever  the  first  of  his  robe  should  so 
undeservedly  stain  me,  for  so  I  call  it ;  and  if  the  story 
be  false,  I  am  sorry  they  should  abuse  Dr.  Tillotson,  as 
well  as  myself,  without  a  cause.  I  add  no  more  but  that 
I  abhor  two  principles  in  religion,  and  pity  them  that  own 
them.  The  first  is  obedience  upon  authority  without  con 
viction  ;  and  the  other,  destroying  them  that  differ  from 
me  for  God's  sake.  Such  a  religion  is  without  judgment, 
though  not  without  teeth — union  is  best,  if  right ;  else 
charity — and,  as  Hooker  said,  '  The  time  will  come  when 
a  few  words  spoken  with  meekness  and  humility  and  love 
shall  be  more  acceptable  than  volumes  of  controversies; ' 
which  commonly  destroy  charity,  the  very  best  part  of 
true  religion — I  mean  not  a  charity  that  can  change  with 
all,  but  bear  all,  as  I  can  Dr.  Tillotson  in  what  he  dissents 
from  me,  and  in  this  reflection,  too,  if  said,  which  is  not 
yet  believed  by 

"Thy  Christian  true  friend,  WILLIAM  PENN. 

"CJTA  RING-CROSS,  22<1  of  the  Eleventh  month,  1685-86." 

Dr.  Tillotson  to  William  Penn. 

"  January  26th,  1685. 

"  HONORED  SIR  : — The  demand  of  your  letter  is  very  just 
and  reasonable,  and  the  manner  of  it  very  kind,  therefore 
in  answer  to  it,  be  pleased  to  take  the  following  account. 
The  last  time  you  did  me  the  favor  to  see  me  at  my  house, 
I  did,  according  to  the  freedom  I  always  use,  where  I  pro 
fess  any  friendship,  acquaint  you  with  something  I  had 
heard  of  a  correspondence  you  held  with  some  at  Rome, 
and  particularly  with  some  of  the  Jesuits  there.  At 


312  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

which  you  seemed  a  little  surprised,  and  after  some 
general  discourse  about  it,  you  said  you  would  call  on 
me  some  other  time,  and  speak  further  of  it ;  since  that 
time  I  never  saw  you,  but  by  accident  and  in  passage, 
where  I  thought  you  always  declined  me,  particularly  at 
Sir  William  Jones's  chamber,  which  was  the  last  time,  I 
think,  I  saw  you;  upon  which  occasion  I  took  notice  to  him 
of  your  strangeness  to  me,  and  told  him  what  I  thought 
might  be  the  reason  of  it,  and  that  I  was  sorry  for  it,  lie- 
cause  I  had  a  particular  esteem  of  your  parts  and  temper. 
"  Whenever  you  will  please  to  satisfy  me  that  my  suspi 
cion  of  the  truth  of  that  report  I  had  heard  was  groundless, 
I  will  heartily  beg  your  pardon  for  it.  I  do  fully  concur 
with  you  in  the  abhorrence  of  the  two  principles  you  men 
tion,  and  in  your  approbation  of  that  excellent  saying  of 
Mr.  Hooker's,  for  which  I  shall  ever  highly  esteem  him. 
I  have  endeavored  to  make  it  one  of  the  governing  prin 
ciples  of  my  life,  never  to  abate  anything  of  humanity  or 
charity  to  any  man  for  his  difference  from  me  in  opinion. 
and  particularly  to  those  of  your  persuasion,  as  several 
of  them  have  had  experience.  I  have  been  ready  upon 
all  occasions  to  do  all  offices  of  kindness,  being  truly  sorry 
to  see  them  so  hardly  used ;  and  though  I  thought  them 
mistaken,  yet  in  the  main  I  believed  them  to  be  very  hon 
est.  I  thank  you  for  your  letter,  and  have  a  just  esteem 
of  the  Christian  temper  of  it,  and  rest, 

"Your  faithful  friend,  Jo.  TILLOTSON." 

William  Penn  to  Dr.  Tillotson. 

"  WORTHY  FRIEND  : — Having  a  much  less  opinion  of 
my  own  memory  than  of  Dr.  Tillotson's  truth,  I  will  al- 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  313 

low  the  fact,  though  not  the  jealousy.  For  besides  that 
1  cannot  look  strangely  where  I  am  well  used:  I  have 
ever  treated  the  name  of  Dr.  Tillotson  with  another  re 
gard.  I  might  be  grave,  and  full  of  my  own  business ;  I 
was  also  then  disappointed  by  the  doctor's  ;  but  my  nature 
is  riot  harsh,  my  education  less,  and  my  principle  least  of 
all.  It  was  the  opinion  I  have  had  of  the  doctor's  mod 
eration,  simplicity,  and  integrity,  rather  than  his  parts, 
or  post,  that  always  made  me  set  a  value  upon  his  friend 
ship,  of  which,  perhaps,  I  am  better  judge,  leaving  the 
latter  to  men  of  deeper  talents.  I  blame  him  nothing,  but 
leave  it  to  his  better  thoughts,  if  in  my  affair,  his  jealousy 
was  not  too  nimble  for  his  charity.  If  he  can  believe  me, 
I  should  hardly  prevail  with  myself  to  endure  the  same 
thought  of  Dr.  Tillotson  on  the  like  occasion,  and  less  to 
speak  of  it.  For  the  Roman  correspondence  I  will  freely 
come  to  confession.  I  have  not  only  no  such  thing  with 
any  Jesuit  at  Rome  (though  Protestants  may  have  with 
out  offence),  but  I  hold  none  with  any  Jesuit,  priest,  or 
regular  in  the  world,  of  that  communion.  And  that  the 
doctor  may  see  what  a  novice  I  am  in  that  business,  I 
know  not  one  anywhere.  And  yet,  when  all  this  is  said, 
I  am  a  Catholic,  though  not  a  Roman.  I  have  bowels  for 
mankind,  and  dare  not  deny  others  what  I  crave  for  my 
self,  I  mean  liberty  for  the  exercise  of  my  religion  ;  think 
ing  faith,  piety,  and  Providence  a  better  security  than  force, 
and  that  if  Truth  cannot  prevail  with  her  owrn  weapons, 
all  others  will  fail  her. 

"  Now,  though  I  am  not  obliged  to  this  defence,  and 
that  it  can  be  no  temporizing  now  to  make  it,  yet  that  Dr. 
Tillotson  may  see  how  much  lvalue  his  good  opinion,  and 
27 


314  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

dare  own  the  truth  and  myself  at  all  turns,  let  him  be  con. 
fidcnt  I  am  no  Roman  Catholic,  but  a  Christian,  whose 
creed  is  the  Scripture,  of  the  truth  of  which  I  hold  a  no 
bler  evidence  than  the  best  church  authority  in  the  world. 
I  recommend  him  to  my  'Address  to  Protestants,'  from 
page  133  to  the  end,  and  to  the  four  first  chapters  of  my 
'No  Cross,  No  Crown;'  to  say  nothing  of  our  most  in- 
ceremonious  and  unworldly  way  of  worship,  and  their 
pompous  cult;  where  at  this  time  I  shall  leave  the  busi 
ness,  with  all  due  and  sensible  acknowledgments  to  thy 
friendly  temper,  and  assurance  of  the  sincere  wishes  and 
respects  of  thy  affectionate  real  friend, 

WILLIAM  PENN. 
"  CHARING-CBOSS,  the  29th  of  the  Eleventh  month,  1686." 

Dr.  Tillotson  to  William  Penn. 

"April  the  29th,  16S6. 

"  SIR  : — I  am  very  sorry  that  the  suspicion  which  I  had 
entertained  concerning  you,  of  which  I  gave  you  the  true 
account  in  my  former  letter,  hath  occasioned  so  much 
trouble  and  inconvenience  to  you.  And  I  do  now  declare 
with  great  joy,  that  I  am  fully  satisfied  there  was  no  just 
ground  for  that  suspicion,  and  therefore  I  do  heartily  beg 
your  pardon  for  it.  And  ever  since  you  were  pleased  to 
give  me  that  satisfaction,  I  have  taken  all  occasions  to  vin 
dicate  you  in  this  matter.  I  am  very  much  in  the  coun 
try,  but  will  seek  the  first  opportunity  to  visit  you  at 
C baring-cross,  and  renew  our  acquaintance,  in  which  I 
took  great  pleasure.  I  rest, 

"  Your  faithful  friend, 

Jo.  TILLOTSON.'' 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  315 


XVI. 

WILLIAM  PENN  had  received,  since  his  residence 
in  England,  several  letters,  both  private  and  official, 
from  Pennsylvania.  He  was  pleased  to  find  that  the 
members  of  his  own  Society  had  conducted  themselves 
generally  well,  and  that  they  had  endeavored  to  promote 
one  of  his  favorite  objects.  They  had  been  careful  to  pre 
vent  the  introduction  of  strong-  liquors  among  the  Indians, 
and  they  had  held  several  religious  meetings  with  them. 
The  Indians,  it  appears,  generally  heard  with  patience 
what  was  said  to  them  at  these  times,  and  seemed  affected 
by  it ;  but  the  impression  was  not  durable.  These  efforts, 
however,  were  very  pleasing  to  one  who  knew  well  that 
every  work  must  have  a  beginning,  and  that  the  best 
could  not  be  brought  to  perfection  without  perseverance. 
Other  intelligence  contained  in  these  letters  was  far  from 
agreeable. 

In  a  letter  from  William  Penn  to  James  Harrison,  his 
steward,  dated  30th  of  Fifth  month  (July),  '85,  he  says: 
"  I  have  had  two  letters  more  with  three  bills  of  exchange. 
I  am  sorry  the  public  is  so  unmindful  of  me  as  not  to  pre 
vent  bills  upon  me,  that  am  come  on  their  errand,  and  had 
rather  have  lost  a  thousand  pounds  than  have  stirred  from 
Pennsylvania.  The  reproaches  that  I  hear  daily  of  the 
conduct  of  things,  bears  hard  upon  my  spirit  too. 

"  The  Lord  order  things  for  his  glory.     James,  send  no 


316  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

more  bills,  for  I  have  enough  to  do  to  keep  all  even  here, 
and  think  of  returning  with  my  family :  that  can't  be 
(done)  without  vast  charge."  In  a  letter,  about  the  same 
time,  to  him  and  others,  he  says:  "I  am  sorry  at  heart  for 
your  animosities.  Cannot  more  friendly  and  private 
courses  be  taken,  to  set  matters  right  in  an  infant  prov 
ince,  whose  steps  are  numbered  and  watched?  For  the 
love  of  God,  me  and  the  poor  country,  be  not  so  govern- 
mentish,  so  noisy,  and  open  in  your  dissatisfactions.  Some 
folks  love  hunting  in  government  itself."  He  deprecated 
the  heavy  charges  which  had  been  made  for  titles  to  land. 
"  It  is  an  abominable  thing  to  have  three  warrants  for 
one  purchase  ;  't  is  oppression  that  my  soul  loathes.  Why 
not  one  warrant  for  all,  at  least  for  liberty -lot  and  the 
remainder  ?  This  is  true  and  right  oppression,  besides 
several  things  set  down  that  are  not  in  law  nor  in  my 
regulations." 

It  appears  that  he  had  not  long  left  the  colony  before  it 
fell  into  disorder,  which  shows  how  much  his  presence  had 
becri  the  life  and  support  of  it.  And  this  disorder,  which 
began  with  one  or  two  individuals  of  looser  character, 
spread  to  the  bodies  politic.  The  Assembly,  where  the 
animosities  above  mentioned  first  showed  themselves,  pro 
ceeded  so  far  as  to  impeach  one  of  their  members,  Nicholas 
Moore,  and  instructed  their  Speaker  to  inform  the  Gov 
ernor  of  the  fact. 

The  letter  from  the  Assembly,  though  it  had  the  appear 
ance  of  being  both  affectionate  and  respectful,  was  the 
cause  of  great  uneasiness  to  William  Penn,  for  Moore  had 
conducted  himself  so  well,  not  only  as  a  private  man,  but 
in  his  office  as  President  of  the  Free  Society  of  Traders  of 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  317 

F'cnnsylvania,  that  the  Governor  had  made  him  one  of 
the  provincial  judges  before  his  departure  for  England. 
He  believed  that  he  had  been  far  too  rigidly  dealt  with, 
the  reputed  misdemeanors  being  of  a  political  and  not  of  a 
moral  nature ;  and,  believing  this,  he  foresaw  that  he 
should  be  obliged  to  signify  his  opinion  to  the  Assembly, 
by  which  the  first  stone  would  be  cast,  as  it  were,  for  at 
least  a  temporary  disagreement  between  them. 

Soon  after  this  he  ushered  into  the  world  a  work  called  y 
"A  Persuasive  to  Moderation  to  Dissenting  Christians,  in  ) 
Prudence  and  Conscience,  humbly  Submitted  to  the  King  / 
and  his  Great  Council." 

In  the  opening  paragraph,  he  says :  "  Moderation,  the 
subject  of  this  discourse,  is,  in  plainer  English,  liberty  of 
conscience  to  church  dissenters;  a  cause  I  have,  with  all 
humility  undertaken  to  plead  against  the  prejudices  of 
the  times.  By  conscience  I  understand  the  apprehen 
sion  and  persuasion  a  man  has  of  his  duty  to  God  ;  by 
liberty  of  conscience,  I  mean  a  free  and  open  profession  and 
exercise  of  that  duty,  especially  in  worship.  But  I  always 
premise  this  duty  to  keep  within  the  bounds  of  morality. 
and  that  it  be  neither  frnntic  nor  mischievous,  but  a  good 
subject,  a  good  child,  a  good  servant  in  all  the  affairs  of 
life  ;  as  exact  to  yield  to  Ca3sar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's, 
as  jealous  of  withholding  from  God  the  things  that  are 
God's.  In  brief,  he  that  acknowledges  the  civil  govern 
ment  under  which  he  lives,  and  that  maintains  no  princi 
ple  hurtful  to  his  neighbor  in  his  civil  property. 

"  In  our  own  time  we  see  the  benefit  of  a  discreet  indul 
gence.     Holland,  that  bog  of  the  world,  neither  sea  nor 
dry  land,  now  the  rival  of  the  tallest  monarchs,  not  by 
27* 


PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

conquests,  marriage,  or  accession  of  royal  blood, — the  usual 
way  to  empire, — but  by  her  own  superlative  clemency  and 
industry,  for  the  one  was  the  effect  of  the  other  ;  she  cher 
ished  her  people  whatsoever  were  their  opinions,  as  the 
reasonable  stock  of  the  country,  the  heads  and  hands  of  her 
trade  and  wealth,  and  making  them  easy  on  the  main 
point,  their  conscience,  she  became  great  by  them.  This 
made  her  fill  up  with  people,  and  they  filled  her  with 
riches  and  strength." 

He  proceeded  to  show  both  the  prudence  and  reason 
ableness  of  religious  toleration,  by  the  great  benefits 
which  would  follow  it.  Among  other  arguments,  such 
as  that  property  would  be  more  secure,  and  that  subjects 
would  be  more  industrious,  flourishing-,  satisfied,  and 
happy,  he  contended,  as  no  trifling  additional  argument, 
that  the  prince  would  in  that  case  have  the  benefit,  not 
of  a  part  only,  but  of  his  whole  people.  "  As  things  then 
stood,  no  Churchman  meant  no  Englishman,  and  no  Con 
formist  meant  no  subject.  Thus  it  may  happen  that  the 
ablest  statesman,  the  bravest  captain,  and  the  best  citizen 
may  be  disabled,  and  the  prince  forbid  their  employment 
to  his  service." 

"  He  concluded  by  an  appeal  to  nature.  He  considered 
the  natural  world  as  full  of  discordant  things ;  but  yet, 
Providence,  by  his  own  all-wise  disposition,  had  so  brought 
them  together  as  to  produce  the  most  perfect  harmony. 
In  like  manner,  he  believed  that  the  concord  of  discords 
afforded  a  firm  basis  for  civil  government.  The  business 
was  to  tune  these  discords  well ;  and  that  could  be  done 
by  one  who  was  a  skilful  musician." 

The  last  argument  which  he  advanced  was  the  happy 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  319 

effect  of  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence  made  by  the  late 
king  in  1671.  Dissenters  being  "uneasy,  their  persons  and 
estates  being  exposed  to  pay  the  reckoning  of  their  dissent, 
no  doubt  but  every  party  shifted  as  they  could.  Most 
grew  selfish,  at  least  jealous."  But  after  the  declaration, 
41  Whitehall  and  St.  James'  were  as  much  visited  and 
courted  by  the  dissenters  and  their  respective  agents  as 
if  they  had  been  of  the  family ;  for,  that  which  eclipsed 
the  royal  goodness  being  by  his  own  hand  thus  removed, 
his  benign  influences  drew  the  returns  of  sweetness  and 
duty  from  that  part  of  his  subjects  which  the  want  of 
those  influences  had  made  barren  before.  Then  it  was  that 
we  looked  like  the  members  of  one  family,  and  children  of 
one  parent ;  nor  did  we  envy  our  eldest  brother  Episcopacy 
his  inheritance,  so  that  we  had  but  a  child's  portion.  For 
not  only  discontents  vanished,  but  no  matter  was  left  for 
ill  spirits,  foreign  or  domestic,  to  brood  upon  or  hatch  to 
mischief,  which  was  a  plain  proof  that  it  is  the  union  of  in 
terests,  and  not  of  opinions,  that  gives  peace  to  kingdoms." 
Such  a  declaration  of  indulgence  he  hoped  would  be  made 
again.  He  saw  no  other  way  of  putting  an  end  to  civil  "an 
imosities,  which,  by  fresh  accidents  falling  in,  had  swelled 
to  a  mighty  deluge ;  such  an  one  as  had  overwhelmed  our 
former  civil  concord  and  security.  And  pardon  me  if  I 
say  I  cannot  sec  that  those  waters  are  likely  to  assuage 
till  this  olive-branch  of  indulgence  be  some  way  or  other 
restored.  The  waves  will  still  cover  our  earth  ;  and  a  spot 
of  earth  will  hardly  be  found  in  this,  our  glorious  isle,  for 
a  great  number  of  useful  people  to  set  a  quiet  foot  upon." 
The  "  Persuasive  to  Moderation  "  was  said  to  have  had 
a  considerable  effect  both  upon  the  king  and  his  council ; 


320  PASSAGES    FROM    THE     LIFE 

for  very  soon  after  its  appearance  in  public,  a  proclamation 
was  issued  by  the  former  for  a  general  pardon  to  all  those 
who  were  then  in  prison  on  account  of  their  consciences. 
The  result  was  that,  of  the  Friends  only,  not  less  than  1200 
persons  were  restored  to  their  families,  many  of  whom  had 
been  in  confinement  for  years.  That  this  happy  event 
might  have  sprung  in  part,  or,  as  far  as  the  council  had 
any  hand  it,  from  the  "  Persuasive  to  Moderation,"  as  was 
then  believed  by  many,  is  not  improbable  ;  but  certain  it  is, 
as  far  as  the  king  was  concerned,  that  it  was  to  be  ascribed 
in  a  great  measure  to  the  personal  solicitations  of  William 
Pcnn.  While  he  resided  at  Kensington  he  never  lost  sight 
of  the  great  object  which  he  had  left  his  own  government 
to  promote.  He  had  opportunities  of  unfolding  much  more 
to  the  king  on  this  subject  than  the  "  Persuasive  to  Mod 
eration  "  itself  contained  ;  and  of  enforcing  his  arguments 
by  bringing  to  view  affecting  cases  of  individual  suffering, 
and  the  distress  and  ruin  of  their  nearest  and  dearest  con 
nections,  deprived  of  their  comfort  and  support.  These 
opportunities  he  used  freely ;  and  it  is  to  his  honor  that 
when  his  most  earnest  entreaties  were  poured  forth  in 
behalf  of  the  members  of  his  own  religious  society,  they 
were  extended  for  all  others  of  his  countrymen,  of  what 
ever  religious  denomination,  who  were  suffering  from  the 
same  cause.  * 

William  Penn,  having  witnessed  the  happy  effects  of 
this  proclamation,  determined  upon  a  tour  to  the  continent 
to  visit  the  churches  there.  The  king,  learning  his  inten 
tion,  gave  him  a  commission  which  he  was  to  execute  in 
his  way.  He  was  to  go  to  the  Hague,  and  there  confer 
with  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  endeavor  to  gain  his  con- 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  321 

sent  to  a  general  religious  toleration  in  England,  together 
with  the  removal  of  all  tests.  It  has  been  usually  supposed 
that  when  the  king  wished  for  toleration  to  his  subjects, 
he  had  in  view  his  favorites,  the  Roman  Catholics,  and 
that  it  was  on  their  account  solely  that  he  was  desirous 
of  the  measure.  William  Penn  was  not  of  this  opinion. 
It  w^as  his  belief  that  though  James  the  Second  was  him 
self  a  Papist,  he  was  yet  a  friend  to  religious  liberty.  But 
whether  this,  his  belief,  was  correct  or  not,  the  commission 
given  him  by  the  king  was  congenial  to  his  own  principles 
and  feelings.  Accordingly,  when  he  went  to  the  continent, 
he  went  first  to  the  Hague,  where  he  had  several  interviews 
with  the  prince  on  the  subject.  At  this  time,  Burnet,  the 
historian,  was  at  the  same  court,  endeavoring  to  prevail 
upon  the  prince  to  give  his  sanction  to  a  toleration  in 
England,  but  not  to  the  removal  of  tests.  Here  he  and 
William  Penn  met.  They  spent  several  hours  together«in 
conversing  upon  the  point  in  question.  William  Penn 
would  not  relax  in  the  least.  If  tests  were  to  be  a  security 
for  toleration,  they  were  unnecessary,  because  if  dissenters 
conducted  themselves  unconstitutionally  they  would  come 
within  the  reach  of  the  laws.  This  perseverance  irritated 
Burnet.  Indeed  Burnet  was  not  well  disposed  to  him 
before,  believing  him  to  be  a  Papist,  if  not  a  Jesuit.  But 
now  he  was  prejudiced  against  him,  so  that  he  mentioned 
him  in  a  way  to  lower  him  in  the  estimation  of  the  reader 
when  he  had  occasion  to  speak  of  him  in  the  History  of 
his  own  Times. 

Having  left  the  Hague,  he  proceeded  to  Amsterdam  and 
Utrecht ;  but  we  know  nothing  after  this  of  the  particular 
places  which  he  visited.  All  we  know  is,  that  he  extended 

V 


322  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

his  journey  to  Germany,  and  that  he  was  satisfied  with 
the  result  of  it ;  for,  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  one  of 
his  friends  in  America  after  his  return  from  it,  he  says, 
that  "he  had  had  a  blessed  service  for  the  Lord." 

On  his  arrival  in  England  he  proceeded  directly  to 
Worminghurst.  But  here  he  did  not  remain  long.  The 
same  cause  which  had  occasioned  him  to  go  into  Holland 
and  Germany  impelled  him  to  travel  over  a  considerable 
part  of  his  native  land.  He  visited  Oxfordshire,  War 
wickshire,  Staffordshire,  Derbyshire,  Cheshire,  Lancashire, 
Yorkshire,  and  the  counties  of  Westmoreland  and  Durham. 
In  all  these  he  labored  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Gospel ;  and 
it  appears  that  he  was  equally  satisfied  with  this  as  with 
his  foreign  journey,  thankfully  confessing  that  "the  Lord 
had  been  with  him  at  this  season  in  a  sweet  and  melting 
life,  to  the  great  joy  of  himself  and  refreshment  of  his 
friends." 

It  appears  by  a  letter  dated  Worminghurst,  addressed 
to  Thomas  Lloyd,  the  president  of  his  council,  to  have  been 
William  Penn's  opinion  that  the  Assembly  had  conducted 
themselves  rashly.  "I  rejoice,"  says  he,  "that  God  has 
preserved  your  health  so  well,  and  that  his  blessings  arc 
upon  the  earth,  but  grieved  at  the  bottom  of  my  heart  for 
the  heats  and  disorders  among  the  people.  This  quarrel 
about  '  the  Free  Society  of  Traders '  has  made  your  great 
guns  heard  hither.  I  entreat  thee  to  consider  of  the  true 
reason  of  our  unhappiness  of  that  side  (Pennsylvania) 
among  our  magistrates.  Is  it  not  their  self-value  ?  Men 
should  be  meek,  humble,  grave.  This  draws  reverence 
and  love  together.  This  wise  and  good  men  will  do.  Is 
any  one  out  of  the  way  ?  They  should  not  so  much  look 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  323 

at  his  infirmities,  as  take  care  they  are  not  also  overtaken ; 
eyeing1  how  many  good  qualities  the  offender  has  to  serve 
the  public,  and  not  cast  a  whole  apple  away  for  one  side 
being  defective." 

Penn  wrote  to  his  friend,  James  Harrison,  as  follows  : — . 
"  For  my  coming  over  (to  Pennsylvania)  cheer  up  the 
people ;  I  press  what  I  can,  but  the  great  undertakings 
that  crowd  me,  and  to  raise  money  to  get  away,  hinders 
rue  yet,  but  my  heart  is  with  you,  and  my  soul  and  love 
is  after  you.  The  Lord  keep  us  here  in  this  dark  day. 
Be  wise,  close,  respectful  to  superiors.  The  king  has 
discharged  all  Friends  by  a  general  pardon,  and  is  court 
eous  to  us,  though  as  to  the  Church  of  England  things 
seem  pinching.  Several  Roman  Catholics  get  much  into 
places  in  the  army,  navy,  and  court."  "My  'Persuasive' 
works  much  among  all  sorts,  and  is  divers  spoken  of.  I 
have  been  thrice  taken  at  meetings,  but  got  off,  blessed  be 
the  Lord." 

By  letters  written  subsequently,  to  the  before-mentioned 
Thomas  Lloyd,  and  to  James  Harrison,  his  agent  for  the 
estate  and  manor  of  Pennsbury,  it  appears  that,  he  had 
serious  cause  to  be  grieved  on  other  accounts.  ITc  writes, 
"  Being  come  home,  I  found  thine  from  Philadelphia  of 
the  3d  of  Eighth  month  past,  by  which  I  am  both 
gladdened  and  troubled. 

"  Glad  that  three  such  honest  Friends,  whom  I  love  in 
my  heart,  are  in  that  station  of  service,  as  your  being  the 
provincial  judges.  I  know  also  that  you  are  men  of  a 
good  understanding,  and  friends  to  me  and  my  honest 
interest,  but  I  could  have  wished  you  easier  and  better 
work.  *  *  * 


324  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

"  Next  I  am  sorry  at  heart  that  my  letters  to  the  council 
are  so  slightly  regarded.  *  *  * 

"  I  have  with  a  religious  mind  consecrated  my  pains  in 
a  prudent  frame  [of  government],  but  I  see  it  is  not 
valued,  understood,  or  kept  to,  so  that  the  charter  is  over 
and  over  again  forfeited  if  I  would  take  advantage  of  it. 
Kay,  I  hear  my  name  is  really  not  mentioned  in  public 
acts  of  state,  nor  the  king's,  which  is  of  dangerous  con 
sequence  to  the  persons  and  things  they  have  transacted, 
since  they  have  no  power  but  what  is  derived  from  me,  as 
mine  is  from  the  king." 

He  also  complained  that  they  had  entirely  neglected  the 
supply  which  they  had  promised  him.  On  this  latter 
subject  he  descended  to  particulars.  He  stated  "that  his 
quit-rents  were  then  at  least  of  the  value  of  five  hundred 
pounds  a  year,  and  then  due,  though  he  could  not  get  a 
penny.  I  am  above  six  thousand  pounds  out  of  pocket 
more  than  ever  I  saw  by  the  province  ;  and  you  may 
throw  in  my  pains,  cares,  and  hazard  of  life,  and  leaving 
of  my  family  and  friends  to  serve  them." 

From  the  same  letters  it  may  be  collected,  that  he  began 
to  be  embarrassed  for  want  of  remittances  from  America, 
so  that,  though  it  was  his  intention  to  have  returned  there 
in  the  autumn  of  the  present  year,  he  was  prevented  in 
some  measure  from  so  doing  on  this  account.  He  declared 
that  the  neglect  of  the  supply,  which  the  council  had 
promised  him  in  consequence  of  his  great  expense  on 
account  of  the  province,  was  one  cause  which  kept  him 
from  Pennsylvania,  adding,  "  that  he  would  not  spend  his 
private  estate  to  discharge  a  public  station."  "  There  is 
nothing  my  soul  breathes  more  for  in  this  world,  next  my 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  325 

dear  family's  life,  than  that  I  may  see  poor  Pennsylvania 
again,  but  I  cannot  force  my  way  hence,  and  see  nothing 
done  on  that  side  inviting-." 

To  remedy  these  and  other  matters,  it  appears  that,  after 
having-  taken  into  consideration  the  conduct  of  the  council, 
he  resolved,  though  they  had  forfeited  their  charter,  to  let 
them  remain  as  such  ;  but  he  would  no  longer  allow  them 
to  have  also  the  executive  power  in  their  hands.  One 
reason  of  their  tardiness  and  negligence  he  conceived 
might  be  their  number,  great  bodies  being  more  unwieldy 
and  moving  with  less  celerity  than  smaller.  He  determined, 
therefore,  to  reduce  the  executive  to  five  persons,  and  made 
out  a  fresh  commission  accordingly.  The  following  are 
the  opening  and  closing  clauses  of  the  commission  : 


WILLIAM  PENN, 

PROriUETOR   AND   GOVERNOR. 

"  To  my  trust}]  and  well-beloved  Friends,  Thomas  Lloyd, 
Nicholas  Moore,  James  Clai/poole,  Robert  Turner,  and 
John  Eccles,  or  any  three  of  them,  in  Philadelphia. 

"  Trusty  and  \vell  beloved  !  I  heartily  salute  you.  Lest 
any  should  scruple  the  termination  of  President  Lloyd's 
commission  with  his  place  in  the  provincial  council,  and 
to  the  end  that  there  may  be  a  more  constant  residence 
of  the  honorary  and  governing  part  of  the  government, 
for  the  keeping  all  things  in  good  order,  I  have  sent  a 
fresh  commission  of  deputation  to  you,  making  any  three 
of  you  a  quorum  to  act  in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  en 
acting,  disannulling,  or  varying  of  laws,  as  if  I  mys^f  were 
28 


326  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

there  present;    reserving  to  myself  the  confirmation  3! 
what  is  done,  and  my  peculiar  royalties  and  advantage!?. 

"Be  most  just,  as  in  the  sight  of  the  all-seeing,  all- 
searching  God;  and,  before  you  let  your  spirits  into  an 
affair,  retire  to  Him,  (who  is  not  far  away  from  any  of 
you,  and  by  whom  kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice \ 
that  lie  may  give  you  a  good  understanding  and  govern 
ment  of  yourselves  in  the  management  thereof;  which  is 
that  which  truly  crowns  public  actions,  and  dignifies  those 
that  perform  them.  The  ship  is  ready  to  sail ;  so  I  shall 
only  admonish  you  in  general,  that,  next  to  the  preserva 
tion  of  virtue,  you  have  a  tender  regard  to  peace  and 
my  privileges,  in  which  enact  from  time  to  time.  Love, 
forgive,  help,  and  serve  one  another;  and  let  the  people 
learn  by  your  example,  as  well  as  by  your  power,  the 
happy  life  of  concord.  So,  commending  you  to  God\s 
grace  and  keeping,  I  bid  you  heartily  farewell. 

"  Given  at  Worminghurst,  in  old  England,  the  1st  of 
the  Twelfth  month,  1C8(>." 

Some  time  after  he  wrote: 

"  To  my  trusty  and  well-beloved  friends,  Thomas  Lloyd, 
Robert  Turner,  James  Claypole,  John  Simcock,  and 
John  Eccles,  Philadelphia. 

"  I  salute  you  all  with  unfeigned  love;  and  in  Christ 
Jesus,  wish  you  health  and  happiness.  My  last  is  by  the 
same  hand,  this  being  sent  to  the  DoAvns  after  him,  upon 
the  receipt  of  Thomas  Lloyd's  and  William  Markham's 
letters.  I  am  heartily  sorry  that  I  had  no  letter  from  the 
government ;  indeed,  I  have  hardly  had  one  at  all ;  and 
[as]  for  private  letters,  though  from  public  persons,  I 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  327 

regard  them  but  little ;  I  mean,  as  to  taking-  of  my  public 
measures  by;  for  I  find  such  contradiction  as  well  as 
diversity,  that  I  believe  I  may  say,  I  am  one  of  the  un- 
happicst  proprietaries  with  one  of  the  best  people. 

"I  shall  henceforth  expect  letters  from  the  government 
recounting  the  affairs  of  it,  that  they  may  be  authorita 
tive  to  me ;  and  as  many  private  ones  of  love  and  friend 
ship  as  you  please  beside,  for  that  I  also  rejoice  in;  and 
any  particular  advices  that  may  inform  me,  as  to  the 
public,  or  remedy  what  may  be  amiss,  or  ameliorate 
what  is  in  itself  well,  will  also  be  very  acceptable  to  me. 
•  "  Xow  I  have  said  this,  I  cannot  but  condole  the  loss  of 
some  standards  in  the  province — honest  men,  and  of  good 
understandings  in  their  kind.  The  Lord  avert  his  judg 
ments,  and  constrain  all  by  his  visitations,  to  amend,  be 
it  in  conversation,  or  be  it  in  peace,  concord,  and  charity. 
They  that  live  near  to  God  will  live  far  from  themselves; 
and  from  the  sense  they  have  of  his  nearness  and  majesty, 
Lave  a  low  opinion  of  themselves ;  and  out  of  that  low 
and  humble  frame  of  spirit  it  is  that  true  charity  grows, 
the  most  excellent  way.  Ah  !  what  shall  I  say  ?  There 
can  be  no  union,  no  comfortable  society  without  it !  Oh, 
that  the  people  of  my  province  and  parts  annexed,  felt 
this  gracious  quality  abounding  in  them.  My  work  would 
soon  be  done,  and  their  praise  and  my  joy  unspeakably 
abound  to  us.  Wherefore,  in  the  name  and  fear  of  God, 
let  all  old  scores  be  forgotten  as  well  as  forgiven.  Shut 
out  the  remembrance  of  them,  and  preach  this  doctrine  to 
the  people  in  my  name,  yea,  in  the  king's  name,  and  his 
that  is  greater  and  above  all,  namely,  God  Almighty  -a 
name. 


328  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

"  I  have  only  to  recommend  to  you  the  due  execution 
of  the  divers  good  laws  among  you  impartially  and  dili 
gently  ;  not  neglecting  the  orders  from  hence  sent,  espe 
cially  for  peace  and  concord.  Government  is  not  to  make, 
but  to  do,  and  despatch  business  ;  in  which  few  words,  and 
a  quiet  but  brisk  execution  does  best.  I  write  to  3^011  about 
my  quit-rents ;  I  am  forced  to  pay  bills  here,  for  the  sup 
port  of  my  family  when  there,  while  I  have  four  or  live 
hundred  pounds  per  annum  in  quit-rents  there.  You  may 
remember  the  vote  of  council  to  pay  my  charges  in  this 
expedition.  I  could  draw  a  large  bill  upon  the  provincial 
council  in  that  regard — I  am  sure  I  need  it — but  have  fur- 
borne  ;  though  it  is  none  of  the  endearingest  considera 
tions,  that  I  have  not  had  the  present  of  a  skin  or  pound 
of  tobacco  since  I  came  over ;  though  they  are  like  to 
have  most  advantage  by  it,  and  promised  so  much. 

"  Pray  prevent  people  withdrawing  from  us  what  you 
can.  They  cannot  mend  themselves,  and  they  that  go 
will  find  it  so  in  a  while,  for  I  believe  God  has  blessed 
that  poor  place ;  and  the  reason  of  my  stay  here,  and  the 
service  I  am,  and  have  been,  to  the  conscientious,  shall  be 
rewarded  on  my  solitary  province.  Remember  me  to  the 
people ;  and  let  them  know  my  heart's  desires  towards 
them,  and  shall  embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  make  my 
abode  with  them." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  329 


XVII. 

O  OON"  after  the  proclamation  of  pardon  already  noticed, 
^  King  James  checked  the  rapacity  of  the  informers 
about  London  and  Middlesex  by  signifying  his  pleasure 
to  the  justices  that  they  should  withhold  their  encourage 
ment  from  that  unprincipled  crew.  Still,  Friends  were 
persecuted  as  popish  recusants,  particularly  by  the  act  of 
23  Elizabeth,  for  twenty  pounds  a  month,  on  account  of 
absence  from  the  national  worship.  Application  being 
made  to  the  king,  he  was  pleased  to  grant  a  nolle  prose- 
qid,  and  gave  orders  to  the  attorney-general  that  no  writs 
should  be  issued  out  of  the  exchequer  against  Friends  or? 
these  accounts.  Thus  the  ruin  of  great  numbers  of 
Friends  was  prevented,  and  their  estates  saved  to  the 
amount  of  many  thousand  pounds ;  a  result  which  the 
labors  and  influence  of  William  Penn  were  no  doubt  in 
strumental  in  producing. 

The  relief  thus  afforded  may  perhaps  be  considered  as 
fairly  included  in  the  royal  prerogative  ;  but  in  the  early 
part  of  1687,  the  king  issued  a  declaration  of  general  in 
dulgence,  or  liberty  of  conscience,  by  his  sovereign  au 
thority  and  absolute  power,  to  his  subjects  of  all  religions ; 
ordering  that  thenceforth  the  execution  of  all  penal  laws 
concerning  ecclesiastical  affairs,  for  not  coming  to  church, 
for  not  receiving  the  sacraments,  or  for  any  other  non- 
28* 


330  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

conformity  with  the  established  religion,  or  for  performing 
religious  worship  in  other  ways,  should  be  suspended. 

This  was  certainly  a  stretch  of  the  royal  prerogative 
irreconcilable  with  the  nature  of  a  limited  monarchy 
Yet  as  the  boon,  so  far  as  liberty  of  conscience  was  re 
garded,  was  nothing  more  than  reason  and  justice  required, 
the  dissenters  in  general  accepted  it  with  gratitude.  Ad 
dresses  of  thanks  to  the  king  were  therefore  presented 
from  numerous  quarters.  Among  others,  Friends  of  the 
city  of  London  presented  one,  and  deputed  William  Penn, 
in  conjunction  with  some  others,  to  present  it. 

In  his  speech  to  the  king,  he  said : 

"  I  would  not  that  any  should  think  we  come  hither 
with  design  to  fill  the  gazette  with  our  thanks ;  but  as  our 
sufferings  would  have  moved  stones  to  compassion,  so  we 
should  be  harder  if  we  were  not  moved  to  gratitude." 

The  address  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  having  been  read, 
the  king  replied : 

"  GENTLEMEN  : — I  thank  you  heartily  for  your  address. 
Some  of  you  know — I  am  sure  you  do,  Mr.  Penn — that  it 
was  always  my  principle  that  conscience  ought  not  to  be 
forced  ;  and  that  all  men  ought  to  have  the  liberty  of  their 
consciences.  What  I  have  promised  in  my  declaration,  I 
wrill  continue  to  perform  as  long  as  I  live.  And  I  hope, 
before  I  die,  to  settle  it  so  that  after  ages  shall  have  no 
reason  to  alter  it." 

It  has  been  made  a  subject  of  censure  that  Friends  and 
other  dissenters  should  offer  their  acknowledgments  to  the 
king  for  a  favor  which  was  dispensed  by  the  violation  of  a 
constitutional  principle.  A  few  observations  will  be  suffi 
cient  to  vindicate  the  Society  of  Friends.  Their  principles 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  331 

have  always  led  them  to  live  peaceably  under  the  established 
governments,  but  to  take  no  part  in  setting  them  up  or 
pulling  them  clown.  They  were  not  accustomed  to  scru 
tinize  very  closely  the  extent  of  the  powers  exercised  by 
nicn'in  authority.  The  limits  of  the  royal  prerogative 
were  at  that  time  very  imperfectly  defined.  Indeed,  Sir 
Edward  Herbert,  Chief-justice  of  the  King's  Bench,  had 
declared  a  few  months  before  that  there  was  nothing 
whatever  with  which  the  king,  as  supreme  law-giver, 
might  not  dispense ;  and  this  decision  was  confirmed  by 
eleven  judges  out  of  the  twelve.  It  was  not  then  to  be 
expected  that  the  exercise  of  this  dispensing  power  would 
be  disputed  by  those  who  were  relieved  by  it  from  an  op 
pressive  burden.  The  penal  laws,  inasmuch  as  they 
abridged  the  freedom  of  worship,  were  justly  considered 
as  an  usurpation  of  the  Divine  prerogative ;  the  suspen 
sion  of  those  laws,  by  royal  authority  alone,  might  there 
fore  be  viewed  as  counteracting  usurpation.  As  the  king 
had  always  professed  himself  a  friend  to  liberty  of  con 
science,  and  the  measures  of  his  government,  so  far  as 
they  were  then  developed,  were  not  incompatible  with 
such  profession,  Friends  were  at  liberty  to  attribute  his 
proclamation  to  justifiable  motives.  And  they  intimated 
in  their  address  the  necessity  of  a  concurrent  action  by 
the  Par! lament,  to  render  the  measure  permanent. 

In  the  summer  of  1G87  William  Perm  again  travelled, 
in  the  work  of  the  Gospel,  through  various  parts  of  Eng 
land,  and  in  the  course  of  the  journey  held  several  meet 
ings  for  worship  at  Bristol,  where  Friends  had  been  so 
violently  persecuted.  These  meetings  were  remarkably 
crowded,  the  people  flocking  to  them  in  great  numbers; 


332  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

showing  that  their  zeal  was  rather  increased  than  dimin 
ished  by  the  recent  persecutions.  At  Chew,  about  five  or 
six  miles  from  Bristol,  he  had  a  meeting  in  the  open  air. 
there  being  no  building  to  be  had  sufficiently  capacious  to 
accommodate  the  multitude  that  attended.  "  A  large  and 
heavenly  meeting  it  was,"  says  J.  Whiting,  "many 
Friends  and  others  of  the  country  round  about  being 
there ;  and  the  more,  that  it  was  the  first  time,  as  I  re 
member,  that  William  Penn  was  ever  in  our  county." 

Among  the  places  he  visited  in  Cheshire  was  Chester 
itself.  The  king  being  then  on  a  journey,  and  arriving 
there  at  the  time,  attended  the  meeting,  as  he  did  at  two 
or  three  other  places  where  he  happened  to  be  when  the 
meetings  were  held.  Yisiting  Oxford  in  the  course  of  his 
journey,  he  there  met  with  the  king  again.  James  was 
then  attempting  to  introduce  into  the  presidentship  of 
Magdalen  College,  Parker,  a  man  of  dissolute  morals,  and 
strongly  suspected  of  popish  principles.  The  members  of 
the  college,  considering  the  interference  of  the  king  as 
an  encroachment  upon  their  rights,  had  elected  a  presi 
dent  whose  character  was  more  congenial  to  their  princi 
ples.  This  brought  on  a  contest  between  the  king  and  the 
members  of  the  college,  in  which  the  latter  applied  to  Wil 
liam  Penn  for  his  interposition  with  the  king.  He  had 
the  courage  and  magnanimity  to  express,  as  modestly  as 
the  nature  of  the  case  would  admit,  yet  in  terms  sufficiently 
explicit,  his  disapprobation  of  the  measures  the  king  was 
pursuing;  and  though  he  had  endeavored  to  procure  a 
repeal  of  the  test  act  as  well  as  the  penal  laws,  he  proved 
himself  no  friend  to  popish  ascendency.  His  remonstrance, 
however,  did  not  arrest  the  proceedings  of  James,  by 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  333 

whose  orders  the  fellows  of  the  college  were  displaced, 
and  Parker  forcibly  installed  in  the  presidency. 

In  the  same  year,  probably  after  his  return  from  the 
journey  just  mentioned,  he  again  took  up  his  pen  in  the 
cause  of  liberty  of  conscience. 

The  freedom  from  persecution  which  Friends  and  other 
dissenters  enjoyed,  being  founded  upon  the  dispensing 
power  of  the  king,  was  evidently  held  by  a  precarious 
tenure,  as  the  proclamation  might  be  revoked,  as  that  of 
Charles  II.  had  been.  William  Penn,  therefore,  with  a 
view  of  promoting  the  good  work  of  placing  the  religious 
liberties  of  the  people  upon  a  solid  and  permanent  basis, 
produced  a  tract,  entitled,  "  Good  Advice  to  the  Church 
of  England,  Roman  Catholics,  and  Protestant  Dissenters. 
In  which  it  is  endeavored  to  be  made  appear  that  it  is 
their  duty,  principle,  and  interest  to  abolish  the  penal 
laws  and  tests.  Beati  Pacifici." 

This  tract  was  published  without  the  author's  name,  as  the 
"  Persuasive  to  Moderation  "  had  been,  probably  from  an 
apprehension  that  the  unjust  odium  under  which  he  labored 
might  prejudice  the  public  against  any  production  which 
was  known  to  be  his.  It  is  classed  in  his  printed  works 
among  his  political  tracts,  but  is  decidedly  of  a  religious 
rather  than  a  political  character,  for  the  subject  is  argued 
on  Christian  principles. 

He  urges  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  three  classes  to 
whom  the  work  is  addressed,  to  promote  the  abolition  of 
the  penal  laws  and  tests,  because  they  all  profess  the  Chris 
tian  religion,  and  Christianity  requires  us  to  believe  that 
faith  is  the  gift  of  God;  that  He  only  is  Lord  of  conscience, 
and  is  able  to  enlighten,  persuade,  and  establish  it.  Con- 


334  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

sequcntly,  to  injure  men  in  their  persons  or  property,  or 
to  exclude  them  from  stations  of  trust  on  account  of  their 
religion,  is  contrary  to  the  tenderness  and  equity  of  Chris 
tianity.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  consideration  that  the 
Christian  religion  is  founded  in  love.  Its  origin,  progress, 
and  consummation  were  all  in  love.  Our  Lord's  rebuke 
to  his  disciples,  who  wished  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven 
to  consume  those  who  rejected  Him,  is  applicable  to  nil 
times  and  places.  Christ  commanded  that  the  tares  should 
be  permitted  to  grow  with  the  wheat  until  the  harvest ;  so 
that  lie  was  in  favor  of  a  toleration,  and  his  mandates  are 
not  to  be  modified  by  reasons  of  state.  When  the  disci 
ples  related  the  circumstance  of  having  found  one  casting 
out  devils  in  their  Master's  name,  whom  they  forbade, 
because  he  followed  not  with  them,  their  decision  was 
reversed  by  the  Saviour  himself,  the  great  wisdom  of  God 
to  his  people,  from  whom  there  is  no  appeal. 

Throughout  this  essay  we  perceive  a  constant  effort  to 
lead  the  people  of  that  day  in  the  path  which  their  relig 
ious  duty  as  well  as  civil  interest  pointed  out,  and  to  allay 
the  jealousies  which  the  conflict  of  parties  had  excited. 

He  says,  in  his  concluding  section :  "Shall  I  speak  within 
our  own  knowledge,  and  that  without  offence  ?  There 
have  been  ruined  since  the  late  king's  restoration  above 
fifteen  thousand  families,  and  more  than  five  thousand 
persons  died  under  bonds,  for  matters  of  mere  conscience 
to  God.  But  who  hath  laid  it  to  heart  ?  " 

In  letters  to  James  Harrison,  written  this  year,  he  says  : 
"A  blessed  general  meeting  we  had,  the  Lord  good 
among  us,  many  of  thy  old  friends  at  it.  As  yet  I  can 
not  get  clear,  for  besides  that  I  am  not  in  my  private 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  335 

affairs  fit  to  move  for  a  stay,  as  that  I  intend  when  I 
come  there.  I  am  engaged  in  the  public  business  of  the 
nation,  and  Friends  and  others  in  authority  would  have 
me  see  the  establishment  of  the  liberty,  that  I  was  a  small 
instrument  to  begin  in  this  land.  The  Lord  has  given 
me  great  entrance  and  interest  with  the  king,  though  not 
so  much  as  't  is  said,  and  I  confess  I  should  rejoice  to  see 
poor  England  fixt,  the  penal  lawrs  repealed  that  are  now 
suspended,  and  if  it  goes  well  with  England  it  cannot  go 
ill  with  Pennsylvania.  Perhaps  thou  wilt  hear  more 
from  some  passengers ;  but  this  I  say,  no  temporal  honor 
or  profit  can  tempt  me  to  decline  poor  Pennsylvania,  as 
unkindly  used  as  I  am,  and  no  poor  slave  in  Turkey 
desires  more  earnestly,  I  believe,  for  deliverance,  than  I 
do  to  be  with  you  ;  wherefore  be  contented  awhile,  and 
God  in  his  time  will  bring  us  together. 

"  8th  of  Seventh  month,  'St.  I  am  straitened,  being 
just  come  home  from  the 'king's  progress  through  Berk 
shire,  Gloucestershire,  Worcestershire,  Shropshire,  Chesh 
ire,  Staffordshire,  Warwickshire,  Oxfordshire,  Hampshire, 
and  so  home.  I  had  two  meetings  on  a  First  day  at  Ches 
ter,  in  the  Tennis  court,  where  were  about  a  thousand 
people,  while  the  king  was  there." 

In  the  spring  of  1C 88  the  king  renewed  his  declaration 
for  liberty  of  conscience,  with  this  addition,  that  he  would 
adhere  firmly  to  it,  and  that  he  would  put  none  into  public 
employments  but  such  as  would  concur  with  him  in  main 
taining  it.  He  also  promised  that  he  would  hold  a  Par 
liament  in  the  November  following.  This  was  what 
William  Penn  desired.  He  wished  the  king  to  continue 
firm  to  his  purpose ;  but  he  knew  that  neither  tests  nor 


336  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

penalties  could  be  legally  removed  without  the  consent  of 
Parliament. 

At  the  time  when  this  declaration  was  renewed,  an  order 
of  council  came  out  that  it  should  be  read  in  the  churches 
within  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of  the  kingdom.  San- 
croft,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  six  other  bishops, 
presented  a  petition  to  the  king  in  behalf  of  themselves 
and  several  other  bishops,  and  a  great  body  of  the  clergy, 
in  which  they  laid  before  him  the  reasons  why  they  had 
opposed  the  reading  of  the  declaration  in  the  churches,  as 
the  order  in  council  had  prescribed.  They  intended,  they 
said,  no  disrespect  to  his  majesty,  nor  did  they  breathe 
any  spirit  of  hostility  towards  the  dissenters ;  but  the 
declaration  being  founded  on  a  dispensing  power,  which 
had  been  declared  illegal  no  less  than  three  times  in  eight 
years,  they  could  not  become  parties  to  it  by  giving  it  the 
extraordinary  publicity  required.  The  king  having  heard 
the  petition,  of  which  this  was  the  substance,  took  time  to 
deliberate  upon  it,  after  wThich  the  seven  bishops  were  sent 
to  the  Tower.  In  process  of  time  they  were  brought  to  trial, 
and  they  were  acquitted  among  the  plaudits  of  the  nation. 

William  Pcnn  was  not  only  against  this  commitment, 
but  the  day  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  born  he  went  to  the 
king  and  pressed  him  exceedingly  to  set  them  at  liberty  ; 
but  after  this  event  he  became  more  unpopular  than  ever. 
It  had  transpired,  probably  by  means  of  Burnet,  that  he- 
had  been  employed  by  the  king  on  the  embassy  to  the 
Hague  to  obtain  the  Prince  of  Orange's  consent  not  only 
to  a  toleration,  but  to  the  removal  of  tests.  It  had  been 
suspected  that  he  was  the  mover  of  the  royal  proclamation 
in  1686  and  of  the  declaration  in  1681.  It  had  become 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  337 

known  that  he  was  the  author  of  "  Good  Advice  to  the 
Church  of  England,  Roman  Catholics,  and  Protestant 
Dissenters."  It  was,  therefore,  now  taken  for  granted 
that  he  had  a  hand  in  the  imprisonment  of  the  bishops, 
though  he  had  never  any  concern,  on  any  occasion,  in  the 
recommendation  of  force.  The  consequence  was  that  he 
became  very  odious  to  the  church.  The  dissenters,  too, 
whose  very  cause  he  had  been  pleading,  turned  against 
him.  Considering  his  intimacy  with  James  the  Second, 
they  judged  him  to  have  the  like  projects  and  pursuits. 
Now  it  happened  that  the  king  had  made  this  year  a  more 
open  acknowledgment  of  popery  than  ever.  He  had  per 
mitted  the  Jesuits  to  erect  a  college  in  the  Savoy  in 
London,  and  suffered  the  friars  to  go  publicly  in  the  dress 
of  their  monastical  orders,  which  was  a  strange  sight  to 
Protestants.  He  had  permitted  also  the  pope's  Nuncio 
d'Ada  to  make  his  public  entry  into  Windsor  in  great 
state.  He  wras,  therefore,  most  openly  a  Catholic.  Hence 
they  considered  William  Penn  to  be  of  the  same  religious 
persuasion.  But  they  carried  the  matter  still  further;  for, 
believing  that  the  king,  when  he  wished  to  establish  a 
toleration  and  to  abolish  tests,  had  no  other  motive  than 
that  of  protecting  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  and  thus 
giving  it  an  opportunity  to  flourish,  they  attached  to  Wil 
liam  Penn  the  same  motive  in  his  furtherance  and  defence 
of  the  measure.  The  clamor,,  indeed,  was  so  great  against 
him,  being  spread  both  by  dissenters  and  the  church,  that 
several,  who  had  not  the  courage  to  go  against  the  spirit 
of  the  times,  avoided  his  acquaintance.  Others,  who  were 
of  a  firmer  texture,  and  who  valued  him  from  what  they 
knew  of  his  worth  and  character,  did  not  follow  the  stream. 
29  W 


333  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

Among  these,  William  Popple,  Secretary  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  Plantations,  an  intimate  friend  both  of  Dr. 
Tillotson  and  John  Locke,  wrote  to  him : 

"To  the  Honorable  William  Penn,  Esq.,  Proprietor  and 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania. 

11  HONORED  SIR : — Though  the  friendship  with  which 
you  are  pleased  to  honor  me  cloth  afford  me  sufficient 
opportunities  of  discoursing  with  you  upon  any  subject, 
yet  I  choose  rather  at  this  time  to  offer  unto  you  in  writing 
some  reflections  which  Lave  occum  d  to  my  thoughts  in  a 
matter  of  no  common  importance. 

"You  are  not  ignorant  that  the  part  you  have  been 
supposed  to  have  had  of  late  years  in  public  affairs,  though 
without  either  the  title,  or  honor,  or  profit  of  any  public 
office,  and  that  especially  j'our  avowed  endeavors  to  intro 
duce  among  us  a  general  inviolable  liberty  of  conscience 
in  matters  of  mere  religion,  have  occasioned  the  mistakes 
of  some  men,  provoked  the  malice  of  others,  and,  in  tlio 
end,  have  raised  against  you  a  multitude  of  enemies,  who 
have  unworthily  defamed  you  with  such  imputations  as, 
I  am  sure,  you  abhor.  This  I  know  you  have  been  suf 
ficiently  informed  of,  though  I  doubt  you  have  not  made 
sufficient  reflection  upon  it.  The  consciousness  of  your 
own  innocence  seems  to  me  to  have  given  you  too  great  a 
contempt  of  such  unjust  and  ill-grounded  slanders ;  for, 
however  glorious  it  is,  and  reasonable  for  a  truly  virtuous 
mind,  wThose  inward  peace  is  founded  upon  that  rock  of 
innocence,  to  despise  the  empty  noise  of  popular  reproach, 
yet  even  that  sublimity  of  spirit  may  sometimes  swell  to 
a  reprovable  excess. 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  339 

"  The  source  of  all  arises  from  the  ordinary  access  you 
have  unto  the  king-,  the  credit  you  are  supposed  to  have 
with  him,  and  the  deep  jealousy  that  sonic  people  have 
conceived  of  his  intentions  in  reference  to  religion.  Their 
jealousy  is  that  his  aim  has  been  to  settle  popery  in  this 
nation,  not  only  in  a  fair  and  secure  liberty,  but  even  in  a 
predominating  superiority  over  all  other  professions;  and 
from  hence  the  inference  follows  that  whosoever  has  any 
part  in  the  councils  of  this  reign  must  needs  be  popishly 
affected ;  but  that  to  have  so  great  a  part  in  them  as  you 
arc  said  to  have  had,  can  happen  to  none  but  an  absolute 
Papist.  That  is  the  direct  charge  ;  but  that  is  not  enough ; 
your  post  is  too  considerable  for  a  Papist  of  an  ordinary 
form,  and  therefore  you  must  be  a  Jesuit ;  nay,  to  confirm 
that  suggestion  it  must  be  accompanied  with  all  the  cir 
cumstances  that  may  best  give  it  an  air  of  probability  ;  as, 
that  you  have  been  bred  at  St.  Oiner's,  in  the  Jesuit's 
college ;  that  you  have  taken  orders  at  Rome,  and  there 
obtained  a  dispensation  to  marry ;  and  that  you  have  since 
then  frequently  officiated  as  a  priest  in  the  celebration  of 
the  Mass  at  Whitehall,  St.  James's,  and  other  places.  And 
this  being  admitted,  nothing  can  be  too  black  to  be  cast 
upon  }'ou.  Whatsoever  is  thought  amiss,  either  in  church 
or  state,  though  never  so  contrary  to  your  advice,  is  boldly 
attributed  to  it. 

"  It  is  not  a  trifling  matter  for  a  person  raised  as  you 
are,  above  the  common  level,  to  lie  under  the  prejudice 
of  so  general  a  mistake  in  so  important  a  matter.  The 
general  and  long  prevalency  of  any  opinion  gives  it  a 
strength,  especially  among  the  vulgar,  that  is  not  easily 
shaken.  The  design  of  so  universal  a  liberty  of  conscience 


340  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

as  your  principles  have  led  you  to  promote  has  offended 
many  of  those  whose  interest  it  is  to  cross  it.  I  need  not 
trtl  you  how  many  and  how  powerful  they  are,  nor  can  I 
tell  you,  either,  how  far  or  by  what  ways  and  means  they 
may  endeavor  to  execute  their  revenge.  But  this,  how 
ever,  I  must  needs  tell  you,  that  in  your  present  circum 
stances  there  is  sufficient  ground  for  so  much  jealousy  at 
least,  as  ought  to  excite  you  to  use  the  precaution  of  some 
public  vindication.  This  the  tenderness  of  friendship 
prompts  your  friends  to  desire  of  you,  and  this  the  just 
sense  of  your  honor,  which  true  religion  does  not  extin 
guish,  requires  you  to  execute. 

"  But  what  do  I  say,  or  what  do  I  wish  for  ?  I  confess 
that  I  am  now  struck  with  astonishment  at  that  abundant 
evidence  which  I  know  you  have  constantly  given  of  the 
opposition  of  your  principles  to  those  of  the  Romish 
church,  and  at  the  little  regard  there  has  been  had  to  it. 

"  I  could  not  but  be  much  affected  that  any  man  who 
had  deservedly  acquired  so  fair  a  reputation  as  you  have 
formerly  had — whose  integrity  and  veracity  had  always 
been  reputed  spotless,  and  whose  charity  had  been  con 
tinually  exercised  in  serving  others,  at  the  dear  expense 
of  his  time,  his  strength,  and  his  estate,  without  any  other 
recompense  than  what  results  from  the  consciousness  of 
doing  good — I  say  I  could  not  but  lie  much  affected  to  see 
any  such  person  fall  innocently  and  undeservedly  under 
such  unjust  reproaches  as  you  have  done. 

"  Since  therefore  it  is  so,  and  that  something  remains  yet 
to  be  done — something  more  express  and  especialh^  more 
public  than  has  yet  been  done — for  your  vindication,  1 
beg  of  you,  dear  sir  by  all  the  tender  efficacy  that  friend- 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN. 

ship,  either  mine  or  that  of  your  friends  and  relations 
together,  can  have  upon  you,  bj  the  due  regard  which 
humanity,  and  even  Christianity,  obliges  you  to  have  to 
your  reputation,  by  the  duty  you  owe  unto  the  king,  by 
your  love  to  the  land  of  your  nativity,  and  by  the  cause 
of  universal  religion  and  eternal  truth,  let  not  the  scandal 
of  insincerity  that  I  have  hinted  at  lie  any  longer  upon 
you.;  but  let  the  sense  of  all  these  obligations  persuade 
you  to  gratify  your  friends  and  relations  and  to  serve 
your  king,  your  country,  and  your  religion,  by  such  a 
public  vindication  of  your  honor  as  your  own  prudence 
upon  these  suggestions  will  now  show  you  to.be  most 
necessary  and  most  expedient. 

"  I  am,  with  unfeigned  and  most  respectful  affection, 
honored  sir,  your  most  humble  and  most  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  POPPLE." 

William  Penn  was  at  Teddington,  near  London,  when 
this  letter  reached  him.  It  was  dated  the  20th  of  October, 
and  on  the  2 -4th  he  answered  it. 

"WORTHY  FIUEND: — It  is  now  above  twenty  years,  I 
thank  God,  that  I  have  not  been  very  solicitous  what  the 
world  thought  of  me  ;  for  since  I  have  had  the  knowledge 
of  religion  from  a  principle  in  myself,  the  first  and  main 
point  with  me  has  been  to  approve  myself  in  the  sight  of 
God  through  patience  and  well-doing,  so  that  the  world 
has  not  hud  weight  enough  with  me  to  suffer  its  good 
opinion  to  raise  me  or  its  ill  opinion  to  deject  me.  And 
if  that  had  been  the  only  motive  or  consideration,  and  not 
the  desire  of  a  good  friend  in  the  name  of  many  others, 
29* 


342  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

I  had  been  as  silent  to  thy  letter  as  I  use  to  be  to  the  idle 
and  malicious  shams  of  the  times ;  but  as  the  laws  of 
friendship  are  sacred  with  those  that  value  that  relation, 
so  I  confess  this  to  be  a  principal  one  with  me,  not  to 
deny  a  friend  the  satisfaction  he  desires,  when  it  may  be 
done  without  offence  to  a  good  conscience. 

"  The  business  chiefly  insisted  upon  is  my  popery,  and 
endeavors  to  promote  it,  I  do  say  then,  and  that  with 
all  sincerity,  that  I  am  not  only  no  Jesuit,  but  no  Papist, 
and,  which  is  more,  I  never  had  any  temptation  upon  me 
to  be  it,  either  from  doubts  in  my  own  mind  about  the 
way  I  profess,  or  from  the  discourses  or  writings  of  any 
of  that  religion.  And  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God 
1  do  declare  that  the  king  did  never  once,  directly  or  indi 
rectly,  attack  me  or  tempt  me  upon  that  subject  the  many 
years  that  I  have  had  the  advantage  of  a  free  access  to 
him — so  unjust,  as  well  as  sordidly  false,  are  all  those 
stories  of  the  town  ! 

"  The  only  reason  that  I  can  apprehend  they  have  to 
repute  me  a  Roman  Catholic  is  my  frequent  going  to 
Whitehall,  a  place  no  more  forbid  to  me  than  to  the  rest 
of  the  world,  who  yet,  it  seems,  find  much  fairer  quarter. 
I  have  almost  continually  had  one  business  or  other  there 
for  our  friends,  whom  I  ever  served  with  a  steady  solic 
itation  through  all  times  since  I  was  of  their  communion. 
I  had  also  a  great  many  personal  good  offices  to  do,  upon 
a  principle  of  charity,  for  people  of  all  persuasions,  think 
ing  it  a  duty  to  improve  the  little  interest  I  had  for  the 
good  of  those  that  needed  it,  especially  the  poor,  I  might 
acid  something  of  my  own  affairs  too,  though  I  must  own 
(if  I  may  without  vanity)  that  they  have  ever  had  the 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  343 

least  share  of  my  thoughts  or  pains,  or  else  they  would 
not  have  still  depended  as  they  yet  do. 

"  But  because  some  people  are  so  unjust  as  to  render 
instances  for  my  popery  (or  rather  hypocrisy,  for  so  it 
would  be  in  me),  'tis  fit  I  contradict  them  as  particularly 
as  they  accuse  me.  I  say  then  solemnly,  that  I  am  so  far 
from  having  been  bred  at  St.  Omer's  and  having  received 
orders  at  Home  that  I  never  was  at  either  place,  nor  do  I 
know  anybody  there,  nor  had  I  ever  a  correspondence  with 
anybody  in  those  places,  which  is  another  story  invented 
against  me.  And  as  for  my  officiating  in  the  king's  chapel, 
or  any  other,  it  is  so  ridiculous,  as  well  as  untrue,  that, 
besides  that  nobody  can  do  it  but  a  priest,  arid  that  I  have 
been  married  to  a  woman  of  some  condition  above  sixteen 
years  (which  no  priest  can  be  by  any  dispensation  what 
ever),  1  have  not  so  much  as  looked  into  any  chapel  of  the 
Roman  religion,  and  consequently  not  the  king's,  though 
a  common  curiosity  warrants  it  daily  to  people  of  all  per 
suasions. 

"And,  once  for  all,  I  do  say  that  I  am  a  Protestant  dis 
senter,  and  to  that  degree  such  that  I  challenge  the  most 
celebrated  Protestant  of  the  English  church,  or  any  other 
on  that  head,  be  he  layman  or  clergyman,  in  public  or  in 
private.  For  I  would  have  such  people  know  'tis  not 
impossible  for  a  true  Protestant  dissenter  to  be  dutiful, 
thankful,  and  serviceable  to  the  king,  though  he  be  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  communion.  TTe  hold  not  our  property 
or  protection  from  him  by  our  persuasion,  and  therefore 
his  persuasion  should  not  be  the  measure  of  our  allegiance. 
I  am  sorry  to  see  so  many  that  seem  fond  of  the  reformed 
religion,  by  their  disaffection  to  him  recommend  it  so  ill. 


344  PASS  AGIOS    FROM    THE    LIFE 

Whatever  practices  of  Roman  Catholics  we  mi^ht  reason 
ably  object  against  (and  no  doubt  but  such  there  are1,  yet 
he  has  disclaimed  and  reprehended  those  ill  things  by  his 
declared  opinion  against  persecution,  by  the  ease  in  whirl) 
he  actually  indulges  all  dissenters,  and  by  the  confirma 
tion  he  oilers  in  Parliament  for  the  security  of  the  Prot 
estant  religion  and  liberty  of  conscience.  And  in  his 
honor,  as  well  as  in  my  own  defence,  I  am  obliged  in 
conscience  to  say  that  he  has  ever  declared  to  me  it  was 
his  opinion,  and  on  all  occasions  when  duke  he  never  re 
fused  me  the  repeated  proofs  of  it,  as  often  as  I  had  tiny 
poor  sufferers  for  conscience'  sake  to  solicit  his  help  for. 

"  But  some  may  be  apt  to  say,  '  Why  not  anybody  else 
as  well  as  I?  Why  must  I  have  the  preferable  access  to 
other  dissenters,  if  not  a  Papist?  '  I  answer,  I  know  not 
that  is  so.  But  this  I  know,  that  I  have  made  it  my 
province  and  business;  I  h:ive  followed  and  prest  it;  I 
took  it  for  my  calling  and  station,  and  have  kept  it  above 
these  sixteen  years;  and,  which  is  more  (if  I  may  say  it 
without  vanity  or  reproach),  wholly  at  my  own  charges 
too.  To  this  let  me  add  the  relation  my  father  had  to 
this  king's  service,  his  particular  favor  in  getting  me  re 
leased  out  of  the  Tower  of  London  in  1CC.1),  mv  father's 
humble  request  to  him  upon  his  death-bed  to  protect  me 
from  the  inconveniences  and  troubles  my  persuasion  might 
expose  me  to,  and  his  friendly  promise  to  do  it,  and  exact 
performance  of  it  from  the  moment  I  addressed  myself  to 
him  ;  I  say,  when  all  this  is  considered,  anybody  that  has 
the  least  pretence  to  good-nature,  gratitude,  or  generosity, 
nnisi  needs  know  how  to  interpret  my  access  to  the  king. 
Perhaps  some  will  be  ready  to  say,  '  This  is  not  all,  nor 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  345 

is  this  yet  a  fault ;  but  that  I  have  been  an  adviser  in 
other  matters  disgustful  to  the  kingdom,  and  which  tend 
to  the  overthrow  of  the  Protestant  religion  and  the 
liberties  of  the  people.'  A  likely  thing,  indeed,  that  a 
Protestant  dissenter,  who  from  fifteen  years  old  has  been 
(at  times)  a  sufferer  in  his  father's  family,  in  the  Univer 
sity,  and  by  the  government  for  being  so,  should  design 
the  destruction  of  the  Protestant  religion!  This  is  just 
as  probable  as  it  is  true  that  I  died  a  Jesuit  six  years  ago 
in  America.  Will  men  still  suffer  such  stuff  to  pass  upon 
them  ?  Is  anything  more  foolish,  as  well  as  false,  than 
that  because  I  am  often  at  Whitehall,  therefore  I  must 
be  the  author  of  all  that  is  done  there  that  does  riot  please 
abroad  ?  But,  supposing  some  such  things  to  have. been 
done,  pray  tell  me,  if  I  am  bound  to  oppose  anything  that 
I  am  not  called  to  do  ?  I  never  was  a  member  of  council, 
cabinet,  or  committee,  where  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom 
are  transacted.  I  have  had  no  office,  or  trust,  and  conse 
quently  nothing  can  be  said  to  be  done  by  me ;  nor,  for 
that  reason,  could  I  lie  under  any  test  or  obligation  to 
discover  my  opinion  of  public  acts  of  state ;  and,  there 
fore,  neither  can  any  such  acts,  or  my  silence  about  them, 
in  justice  be  made  my  crime.  Volunteers"  are  blanks  and 
ciphers  in  all  governments.  And  unless  calling  at  White 
hall  once  a  day,  upon  many  occasions,  or  rny  not  being 
turned  out  of  nothing  (for  that  no  office  is),  be  the  evidence 
of  my  compliance  in  disagreeable  things,  I  know  riot  what 
else  can,  with  any  truth,  be  alleged  against  me.  However, 
one  thing  I  know,  that  I  have  everywhere  most  religiously 
observed,  and  endeavored  in  conversation  with  persons 
of  all  ranks  and  opinions,  to  allay  heats  and  moderate 


346  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

extremes,  even  in  the  politics.  It  is  below  me  to  be 
more  particular ;  but  I  am  sure  it  has  been  my  endeavor, 
that  if  we  could  not  all  meet  upon  a  religious  bottom,  at 
least  we  might  upon  a  civil  one,  the  good  of  England, 
which  is  the  common  interest  of  king  and  people  ;  that  he 
might  be  great  by  justice,  and  we  free  by  obedience;  dis 
tinguishing  rightly,  on  the  one  hand,  between  doty  and 
slavery,  and,  on  the  other,  between  liberty  and  licentious 
ness. 

•  "  But,  alas,  I  am  not  without  my  apprehension  of  the 
cause  of  this  behavior  towards  me,  and  in  this  I  perceive 
we  agree  ;  I  mean  my  constant  zeal  for  an  impartial  liberty 
of  conscience.  But  if  that  be  it,  the  cause  is  too  good  to 
be  in, pain  about.  I  ever  understood  that  to  be  the  natural 
right  of  all  men  ;  and  that  he  that  had  a  religion  without 
it,  his  religion  was  none  of  his  own.  For  what  is  not  the 
religion  of  a  man's  choice  is  the  religion  of  him  that  im- 

O  o 

poses  it ;  so  that  liberty  of  conscience  is  the  first,  step  to 
have  a  religion.  This  is  no  new  opinion  with  me.  I 
have  writ  many  apologies  within  the  last  twenty  years  to 
defend  it,  and  that  impartially.  Yet  I  have  as  constantly 
declared  that  bounds  ought  to  be  set  to  this  freedom,  and 
that  morality  was  the  best ;  and  that  as  often  as  that  was 
violated,  under  a  pretence  of  conscience,  it  was  fit  the 
civil  power  should  take  place.  Xor  did  I  ever  think  of 
promoting  any  sort  of  liberty  of  conscience  for  anybody 
which  did  not  preserve  the  common  Protestancy  of  the 
kingdom  and  the  ancient  rights  of  the  government ;  for, 
to  say  truth,  the  one  cannot  be  maintained  without  the 
other. 

"Upon  the  whole  matter,  I  must  say,  I  love  England, 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  347 

1  r»ver  did  so ;  and  that  I  am  not  in  her  debt.  I  never 
valued  time,  money,  or  kindred,  to  serve  her  and  do  her 
good.  No  party  could  ever  bias  me  to  her  prejudice,  nor 
any  personal  interest  oblige  me  in  her  wrong;  for  I 
always  abhorred  discounting  private  favors  at  the  public 
cost, 

"  Would  I  have  made  my  market  of  the  fears  and 
jealousies  of  the  people,  when  this  king  came  to  the 
crown,  I  had  put  twenty  thousand  pounds  into  my  pocket, 
and  an  hundred  thousand  into  my  province ;  for  mighty 
numbers  of  people  were  then  upon  the  wing;  but  I 
waived  it  all ;  hoped  for  better  times  ;  expected  the  effects 
of  the  king's  word  for  liberty  of  conscience,  and  happi 
ness  by  it ;  and  till  I  saw  my  Friends,  with  the  kingdom, 
delivered  from  the  legal  bondage  which  penal  laws  for 
religion  had  subjected  them  to,  I  could  with  no  satisfac 
tion  think  of  leaving  England,  though  much  to  my  preju 
dice  beyond,  sea,  and  at  my  great  expense  here,  having  in 
all  this  time  never  had  either  office  or  pension,  and  always 
refusing  the  rewards  or  gratuities  of  those  I  have  been 
able  to  oblige. 

"  If,  therefore,  an  universal  charity,  if  the  asserting  an  im 
partial  liberty  of  conscience,  if  doing  to  others  as  we  would 
be  done  by,  and  an  open  avowing  and  steady  practising  of 
these  things,  in  all  times  and  to  all  parties,  will  justly  lay 
a  man  under  the  reflection  of  being  a  Jesuit,  or  Papist  of 
any  rank,  I  must  not  only  submit  to  the  character,  but 
embrace  it  too ;  and  I  care  not  who  knows,  that  I  can 
wear  it  with  more  pleasure  than  it  is  possible  for  them 
with  any  justice  to  give  it  me.  For  these  are  corner 
stones  and  principles  with  me  ;  and  I  am  scandalized  at 


3-48  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

all  buildings  which  have  them  not  for  their  foundations. 
For  religion  itself  is  an  empty  name  without  them,  a 
whitcd  wall,  a  painted  sepulchre,  no  life  or  virtue  to  the 
soul,  no  good  or  example  to  one's  neighbor.  Let  us  not 
flatter  ourselves  ;  we  can  never  be  the  better  for  our  re 
ligion,  if  our  neighbor  be  the  worse  for  it,  Our  fault  is, 
we  arc  apt  to  be  mighty  hot  upon  speculative  errors,  and 
break  all  bounds  in  our  resentments ;  but  we  let  practical 
ones  pass  without  remark,  if  not  without  repentance ;  as 
if  a  mistake  about  an  obscure  proposition  of  faith  were  a 
greater  evil  than  the  breach  of  an  undoubted  precept. 
Such  a  religion  the  devils  themselves  are  not  without; 
for  they  have  both  faith  and  knowledge  ;  but  their  faith 
doth  not  work  by  love,  nor  their  knowledge  by  obedience. 
And  if  this  be  their  judgment,  can  it  be  our  blessing? 
Let  us  not  then  think  religion  a  litigious  thing,  nor  that 
Christ  came  only  to  make  us  good  disputants,  but  that 
He  came  also  to  make  us  good  livers;  sincerity  goes 
further  than  capacity.  It  is  charity  that  deservedly  ex 
cels  in  the  Christian  religion ;  and  happy  would  it  be  if, 
where  unity  ends,  charity  did  begin,  instead  of  envy  and 
railing,  that  almost  ever  follow.  It  appears  to  me  to  be 
the  way  that  God  has  found  out  and  appointed  to  moder 
ate  our  differences,  and  make  them  at  least  harmless  to 
society;  and,  therefore,  I  confess  I  dare  not  aggravate 
them  to  wrath  and  blood.  Our  disagreement  lies  in  our 
apprehension  or  belief  of  things;  and  if  the  common 
enemy  of  mankind  had  not  the  governing  of  our  affec 
tions  and  passions,  that  disagreement  would  not  prove 
such  a  canker,  as  it  is,  to  love  and  peace  in  civil  societies. 
"  lie  that  suffers  his  difference  with  his  neighbor  about 


OF    WILLIAM    PENK.  349 

the  other  world  to  carry  him  beyond  the  line  of  modera 
tion  in  this,  is  the  worse  for  his  opinion,  even  though  it 
be  true. 

"  What  sort  of  Christians  must  they  be,  I  pray,  that 
can  hate  in  his  name  who  bids  us  love,  and  kill  for  his 
sake,  that  forbids  killing  and  commands  love,  even  to 
enemies  ? 

"  Though  people  say  to  God,  Thy  will  be  done,  they  do 
their  own ;  which  shows  them  to  be  true  heathens,  under 
a  mask  of  Christianity,  that  believe  without  works,  and 
repent  without  forsaking;  busy  for  forms  and  the  tem 
poral  benefits  of  them ;  while  true  religion,  which  is  to 
visit  the  fatherless  and  the  widow,  and  to  keep  ourselves 
unspotted  from  the  world,  goes  barefoot,  and,  like  Laza 
rus,  is  despised.  Yet  this  was  the  definition  the  Holy 
Ghost  gave  of  religion  before  synods  and  councils  had 
the  meddling  with  it  and  modelling  of  it. 

"In  no  age  or  time  was  there  more  need  to  set  men  at 
work  in  their  own  hearts  than  this  we  live  in,  when  so 
busy,  wandering,  licentious  a  spirit  prevails;  for,  what 
ever  some  men  may  think,  the  disease  of  this  kingdom  is 
sin,  impiety  against  God,  and  want  of  charity  to  men. 
And  while  this  guilt  is  at  our  door,  judgment  cannot  be 
far  off. 

"Now  this  being -the  disease,  I  will  briefly  offer  two 
things  for  the  cure  of  it. 

"  The  first  is  David's  clean  heart  and  right  spirit,  which 
he  asked  and  had  of  God :  without  this  we  must  be  a 
chaos  still ;  for  the  distemper  is  within,  and  our  Lord  said, 
all  evil  comes  from  thence.  Set  the  inward  man  right,  and 
the  outward  man  cannot  be  wrong ;  that  is  the  helm  that 
30 


860  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

governs  the  human  vessel ;  and  this  nothing  can  do  but 
an  inward  principle,  the  light  and  grace  that  came  by 
Christ,  which,  the  Scriptures  tell  us,  enlightens  every 
one,  and  hath  appeared  to  all  men.  He  that  gave  us  an 
outward  luminary  for  our  bodies,  hath  given  us  an  inward 
one  for  our  minds  to  act  by.  We  have  it,  and  it  is  our 
condemnation  that  we  do  not  love  it,  and  bring  our  deeds 
to  it.  'T  is  by  this  we  see  our  sins,  arc  made  sensible  of 
them,  sorry  for  them,  and  finally  forsake  them.  And  he 
that  thinks  to  go  to  heavtn  a  nearer  way,  will,  I  fear,  be- 
late  his  soul,  and  be  irrevocably  mistaken.  There  are  but 
goats  and  sheep  at  last,  whatever  shapes  we  wear  here. 
Let  us  not  therefore,  dear  friend,  deceive  ourselves.  Our 
souls  are  at  stake  ;  God  will  not  be  mocked  ;  what  we  sow 
we  must  expect  to  reap.  To  sum  up  this  divinity  of  mine, 
it  is  the  light  of  Jesus  in  our  souls  that  gives  us  a  true  sight 
of  ourselves,  and  that  sight  that  leads  us  to  repentance  ; 
which  repentance  begets  humility,  and  humility  that  true 
charity  that  covers  a  multitude  of  faults,  which  I  call  God's 
expedient  against  man's  infirmity. 

"  The  second  remedy  to  our  present  distemper  is  this : 
Since  all  of  all  parties  profess  to  believe  in  God,  Christ, 
the  Spirit,  and  Scripture  ;  that  the  soul  is  immortal ;  that 
there  are  eternal  rewards  and  punishments ;  and  that  the 
virtuous  shall  receive  the  one,  and  the  wicked  suifer  the 
other;  I  say,  since  this  is  the  common  faith  of  Christen 
dom,  let  us  all  resolve  in  the  strength  of  God  to  live  up 
to  what  we  agree  in,  before  we  fall  out  so  miserably  about 
the  rest  in  which  we  differ.  I  am  persuaded  the  change  and 
comfort  which  that  pious  course  w^ould  bring  us  to,  would 
go  very  far  to  dispose  our  natures  to  compound  easily  for 


OP    WILLIAM    PENN.  351 

'all  the  rest,  and  we  might  hope  yet  to  see  happy  clays  in 
poor  England,  for  there  I  would  have  so  good  a  work  be- 
gnn.  And  how  it  is  possible  for  the  eminent  men  of  every 
religious  persuasion  (especially  the  present  ministers  of 
the  parishes  of  England)  to  think  of  giving  an  account 
to  God  at  the  last  day,  without  using  the  utmost  of  their 
endeavors  to  moderate  the  members  of  their  respective 
communions  towards  those  that  differ  from  them,  is  a 
mystery  to  me.  But  this  I  know,  and  must  lay  it  at  their 
doors  ;  I  charge  also  my  own  soul  with  it ;  God  requires 
moderation  and  humility  from  us ;  for  He  is  at  hand  who 
will  not  spare  to  judge  our  impatience,  if  we  have  no  pa 
tience  for  one  another.  The  eternal  God  rebuke  (I  be 
seech  Him)  the  wrath  of  man,  and  humble  all  under  the 
sense  of  the  evil  of  this  day;  and  yet  (unworthy  as  we 
are)  give  us  peace  for  his  holy  name's  sake. 

"It  is  now  time  to  end  this  letter,  and  I  will  now  do 
it  without  saying  any  more  than  this :  Thou  seest  my 
defence  against  popular  calumny ;  thou  scest  what  my 
thoughts  are  of  our  condition,  and  the  way  to  better 
it ;  and  thou  seest  my  hearty  and  humble  prayer  to  Al 
mighty  God  to  incline  us  to  be  wise,  if  it  were  but  for  our 
own  sakes.  I  shall  only  add  that  I  am  extremely  sensible  of 
the  kindness  and  justice  intended  me  by  my  friends  on  this 
occasion,  and  that  I  am  for  that  and  many  more  reasons, 
"  Thy  obliged  and  affectionate  Friend, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

In  about  a  fortnight  after  the  writing  of  this  letter,  the 
nation  being  in  a  ferment  on  account  of  the  arbitrary  pro 
ceedings  of  James  II.,  William  Prince  of  Orange  landed 


352  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

at  Torbay.  He  was  received  there  with  open  arms  as 
well  as  afterwards. by  the  country  at. large.  Officers  and 
men,  abandoning  their  former  banners,  deserted  to  serve 
under  him.  The  national  discontent  indeed  was  such  that 
James  found  it  necessary  to  leave  the  kingdom  and  to  re 
tire  to  France.  In  process  of  time,  as  is  well  known,  the 
Prince  of  Orange  and  his  consort  were  advanced  to  the 
sovereignty  of  the  realm. 

William  Penn  lost,  by  the  flight  of  the  king,  one  who, 
with  all  his  political  failings,  had  been  his  firm  friend. 
He  was  left  exposed  to  the  popular  indignation  as  a  Papist 
and  Jesuit,  and  as  one  who  had  aimed  to  establish 
popery  and  arbitrary  power  in  the  kingdom.  To  return 
to  America,  though  she  presented  to  him  a  peaceful  asy 
lum,  would  have  led  persons  to  conclude  that  he  had  been 
guilty  of  what  had  been  laid  to  his  charge.  Conscious 
of  his  own  innocence,  he  resolved  to  remain  where  he 
was,  following  those  occupations  by  which  he  thought  he 
could  best  promote  the  good  of  his  fellow-creatures. 

But  it  was  not  long  after  this  determination  before  he 
felt  the  effect  of  the  political  change  which  had  taken 
place ;  for  on  the  10th  of  Twelfth  month,  walking  in  White 
hall,  he  was  sent  for  by  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  who 
were  then  sitting.  Here  he  underwent  an  examination. 
In  reply  to  some  questions  which  were  put  to  him,  he 
protested  that  "  he  had  done  nothing  but  what  he  could 
answer  before  God  and  all  the  princes  in  the  world ;  that 
he  loved  his  country  and  the  Protestant  religion  above  his 
life,  and  had  never  acted  against  either ;  that  all  he  had 
ever  aimed  at  in  his  public  endeavors  was  no  other  than 
what  the  prince  himself  had  declared  for;  that  King 


OF    WILLIAM    IVKNN.  353 

James  had  always  been  his  friend  and  his  father's  friend  ; 
and  that  in  gratitude  he  himself  was  the  king's,  and  did 
ever,  as  much  as  in  him  lay,  influence  him  to  his  true 
interest."  Notwithstanding  this  manly  and  open  declara- 
non,  and  that  nothing  appeared  against  him,  the  council 
obliged  him  to  give  security  for  his  appearance  the  first 
day  of  the  next  term. 

30*  X 


P  A  S  S  A  (J  E  S     F  ROM     T  II  K     I,  I  F  E 


XVITI. 

WHILE  William  Perm  was  in  England,  the  want 
of  his  presence  in  Pennsylvania  was  felt  and  la 
mented  by  the  inhabitants  there.  The  burden  of  govern 
ment  had  rested  principally  upon  Thomas  Lloyd,  a  valua 
ble  member  and  minister  of  the  Society  of  Friends  ;  but  as 
he  was  desirous  of  being  released  from  the  care  and  respon 
sibility  of  his  public  station,  William  Penn  reluctantly 
granted  his  request,  and  nominated  Captain  John  Ulack- 
well  as  his  deputy.  In  his  letter  to  his  friends  in  Penn 
sylvania,  he  says:  "For  your  ease,  I  have  appointed  one 
that  is  not  a  Friend,  but  a  grave,  sober,  wise  man,  to  be 
jlovernor  in  my  absence.  He  married  old  General  Lam 
bert's  daughter,  was  treasurer  to  the  Commonwealth's 
army  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland :  I  suppose  inde 
pendent  in  judgment.  Let  him  see  what  he  can  do  awhile. 
I  have  ordered  him  to  confer  in  private  with  you,  and 
square  himself  by  your  advice.  If  he  do  not  please  you, 
he  shall  be  laid  aside.  I  desire  you  to  receive  him  with 
kindness,  and  let  him  see  it,  and  use  his  not  being  a  Friend 
to  Friends'  advantage.  He  has  a  mighty  repute  of  all 
sorts  of  honest  people  where  he  has  inhabited,  which, 
with  my  knowledge,  has  made  me  venture  upon  him.  I 
have  rough  people  to  deal  with  about  my  quit-rents,  that 
yet  cannot  pay  a  ten-pound  bill,  but  draw,  draw,  draw, 
still  upon  me.  And  it  being  his  talent  (Blaekwell's)  to 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN. 

regulate  and  set  things  in  method,  easy  and  iust,  I  have 
pitched  upon  him  to  advise  therein." 

Among  the  instructions  accompanying  the  commission 
sent  to  this  officer  are  the  following :  "  That  the  widow, 
orphan,  and  absent  may  be  particularly  regarded  in  their 
rights,  for  their  cry  will  be  loudest  in  all  ears ;  but  by 
absent,  I  moan  such  as  are  so  of  necessity.  To  have  a 
special  care  that  sheriffs  and  clerks  of  the  peace  impose 
not  upon  the  people,  and  that  the  magistrates  live  peace 
ably  and  soberly,  for  I  could  not  endure  one  loose  or  liti 
gious  person  in  authority.  Let  them  be  men  having  some 
fear  of  God,  and  hating  covetousness,  whatever  be  their 
persuasion  ;  to  employ  others  is  to  profane  an  ordinance 
of  God.  Rule  the  meek  meekly,  and  those  that  will  not 
be  ruled,  rule  with  authority,  and  God  Almighty  prosper 
all  honest  and  prudent  endeavors." 

The  appointment  of  Deputy-Governor  Blackwell  did  not 
answer  the  expectations  of  the  Proprietary.  He  did  not 
harmonize  with  the  inhabitants  there,  and  William  Penn 
was  induced  in  a  short  time  to  revoke  his  commission. 

While  under  bail  for  his  appearance  before  the  council, 
William  Pcnn  wrote  to  Friends  in  Pennsylvania: 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIENDS  AND  BRETHREN: — If  it  be  with  you 
as  I  can  say  it  is  with  me,  in  the  presence  of  God,  then 
are  we  one  in  Him,  for  neither  length  of  days,  nor  distance 
of  place,  nor  all  the  many  waters  between  us,  can  separate 
my  heart  and  affection  from  you.  .  .  . 

"  Groat  revolutions  have  been  of  late  in  this  land  of 
your  nativity,  and  wrhere  they  may  period  the  Lord  knows. 
It  can  be  no  new  thing  for  us  to  meet  with  exercises. 


356  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

Europe  looks  like  a  sea  of  trouble — wars  all  over  it  like  to 
be  this  summer.  I  strongly  desire  to  see  you  before  it  be 
spent,  if  the  Lord  will ;  and  I  can  say  in  his  sight,  that  to 
improve  my  interest  with  King  James  for  tender  eon- 
sciences,  and  that  a  Christian  liberty  might  be  legally 
settled,  though  against  my  own  interest,  was  that  which 
separated  me  from  you  chiefly.  I  desire  your  remem 
brance  before  the  Lord ;  as  you  are  not,  and  cannot  be, 
forgotten  in  my  addresses  and  approaches  to  Him,  who 
rest  in  his  unchangeable  love,  dear  friends  and  brethren, 
yours  unalterably,  in  the  communion  of  the  blessed  truth, 

WILLIAM  PENN. 
"  The  2d  of  the  First  month,  1689." 

When  William  Penn's  case  was  finally  brought  before 
court  he  was  cleared,  there  being  no  charge  against  him. 

After  the  retirement  of  Governor  Blackwell.  Thomas 
Lloyd  again  consented  to  act  as  president  of  the  council, 
the  executive  duties  having  now  reverted  to  it.  William 
Penn  at  this  time  wrote  to  thorny 

"LONDON,  12th  of  Sixth  month,  1G89. 

"  FRIENDS:— I  heartily  wish  you  all  well,  and  beseech 
God  to  guide  you  in  the  ways  of  righteousness  and  peace. 
I  have  thought  fit,  upon  my  further  stop  in  these  parts,  to 
throw  all  into  your  hands,  that  you  may  all  see  the  confi 
dence  I  have  in  you,  and  the  desire  I  have  to  give  you  all 
possible  contentment.  I  do  earnestly  press  your  constant 
attendance  upon  the  government,  and  the  diligent  pursuit 
of  peace  and  virtue ;  and  God  Almighty  strengthen  your 
hands  in  so  good  a  work.  I  also  recommend  to  you  the 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  3o7 

particular  discipline  of  that  town  you  meet  in  ;  that  so 
briety  and  gravity  be  maintained,  and  authority  kept  in 
respect.  As  it  comes  in  your  way,  countenance  my  offi 
cers  in  collecting  my  small  revenue.  Whatever  you  do,  I 
desire,  beseech,  and  charge  you  all  to  avoid  factions  and 
parties,  whisperings  and  reportiugs,  and  all  animosities; 
that  putting  your  common  shoulders  to  the  public  work, 
you  may  have  the  reward  of  good  men  and  patriots,  and 
so  I  bid  you  farewell. 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

He  afterwards  wrote  to  the  Provincial  Council : 

"  HAMMERSMITH,  the  30th  of  the  Tenth  month,  1689. 

"  DEAR  FRIENDS: — I  cannot  slip  this  opportunity,  but 
send  you  the  endeared  salutations  of  my  love,  that,  in  the 
truth,  gives  me  frequent  occasion  to  remember  you,  and 
earnestly  desire  your  preservation  to  God,  as  well  as  your 
comfort  and  prosperity  in  outward  things.  About  which 
have  a  care,  that  they  grow  not  too  fast  upon  you,  nor  too 
many  for  you — I  mean  as  to  the  care  and  concerns  that 
attend  them  in  the  exercise  of  your  spirits ;  for  it  is  a 
blessed  state  to  enjoy  and  use  of  the  world,  in  the  domin 
ion  of  his  life  and  power,  that  has  quickened  us  by  his 
light  and  spirit  a  people  to  himself,  for  in  this  stands  all  our 
peace  and  blessedness,  that  God  be  eyed  in  the  first  place, 
that  we  set  Him  on  our  right  hand,  that  we  set  Him  con 
tinually  before  our  eyes,  and  that  our  eye  be  directed 
towards  Him  in  all  things,  as  the  eye  of  a  handmaid  to 
her  mistress,  that  we  may  be  able  to  say  in  truth  and 
righteousness,  we  have  none  in  heaven  but  Him,  nor  any 


358  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

on  earth  besides  Him.  This  it  is  that  keeps  God's  people 
everywhere ;  for  hereby  they  put  on  Christ  in  all  his 
blessed  teachings  and  leadings,  and  make  no  provision  for 
the  flesh  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof.  Friends,  these  are 
deep  words  and  deeper  things.  And  now,  Friends,  I 
have  a  word  more  to  you,  and  that  is  this  :  that  faith,  hope, 
and  charity  are  the  great  helps  and  marks  of  true  Chris 
tians  ;  but  above  all  charity  is  the  love  of  God  or  divine  love. 
It  will  preserve  peace  in  the  church,  peace  in  the  State, 
peace  in  families,  aye,  and  peace  in  particular  bosoms.  God 
Almighty  draw,  I  beseech  Him,  all  your  hearts  into  this 
heavenly  love  more  and  more,  that  the  work  of  it  may 
shine  out  to  God's  glory  and  your  comfort.  For  matters 
here,  as  to  myself,  I  am  well  and  free  ;  and  for  the  church 
of  God  liberty  continues.  But  in  the  nations  of  Europe 
great  wars  and  rumors  of  war,  such  as  have  not  been, 
almost  from  the  beginning;  suns  are  turned  into  dark 
ness  and  moons  into  blood,  for  the  notable  day  is  at  the 
door.  It  could  [not]  be  borne  from  some  of  you  when 
you  went  for  America,  that  such  a  day  would  come  ;  but 
come  and  coming  it  is,  for  almost  every  eye  sees  it  and 
tongue  says  it,  and  some  thousands,  alas!  have  already 
felt  it.  Sanctify,  therefore,  the  Lord  in  your  hearts ;  be 
satisfied  in  Him  and  in  your  lot,  and  walk  worthy  of  his 
daily  mercy  and  attendance  upon  you  and  care  over  you. 
And  the  Lord,  keep  you  to  the  end. 

"  I  am,  in  the  truth  that  makes  us  near  to  God  and  one 
to  another,  your  faithful  friend  and  brother, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  359 


XIX. 

WILLIAM  PENN,  though  he  saw  no  disposition 
either  in  the  king-  or  in  the  Parliament  to  amend  the 
toleration  act,  so  as  to  bring  it  nearer  to  his  own  wishes, 
had  yet  the  pleasure  to  find  that  it  had  at  least  become 
so  popular,  except  among  some  of  the  clergy,  that  it  was 
likely  to  maintain  its  ground.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to 
embark  for  Pennsylvania  in  the  course  of  the  present  year. 
He  had  been  in  the  habit  of  writing  to  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  who  was  then  deceased.  A  friend  of  his 
had  fallen  in  with  some  of  his  letters,  and  was  then  col 
lecting  them,  with  a  view  of  preventing  them  from  passing 
into  improper  hands  ;  for  he  supposed,  probably,  that  they 
might  contain  political  matter  ;  and  as  William  Penn  was 
then  daily  watched  by  the  new  government  as  a  person 
suspected  to  be  hostile  to  it,  there  might  be  expressions  in 
them  which  might  afford  his  enemies  a  handle  for  putting 
him  to  trouble.  He  wrote  to  this  friend  : 

"  Being  informed  by  Jer.  Grimshaw  that  some  of  my 
letters  to  the  late  Duke  of  Buckingham  are  in  thy  hands, 
and  that  thy  wonted  kindness  to  all  of  our  communion  h.;d 
shown  itself  in  my  regard  by  collecting  them  apart,  to  pre 
vent  their  falling  under  any  improper  notice,  I  thought 
myself  obliged,  both  to  return  my  acknowledgments  for 
ll:at  friendly  caution,  and  to  desire  thee  to  let  them  follow 


360  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

him  they  were  written  to,  who  can  be  no  more  known  to 
the  living.  Poor  gentleman !  I  need  not  trust  another 
hand  than  that  which  was  unwilling  any  other  should  be 
trusted  with  them  but  my  own.  I  know  not  what  the 
circumstances  of  that  time  might  draw  from  me  ;  but  my 
only  business  with  him  ever  was  to  make  his  superior 
quality  and  sense  useful  to  this  kingdom,  that  he  might 
not  die  under  the  guilt  of  misspending  the  greatest  talents 
that  were  among  the  nobility  of  any  country.  However, 
in  the  rubbish  of  those  times,  and  the  late  extraordinary 
revolution,  let  them  lie ;  and  let  us  all  think  of  this  only 
way  to  the  peace  and  happiness  we  pretend  to  seek,  namely, 
to  give  God  his  due  out  of  us,  and  then  we  shall  have  our 
dues  out  of  one  another  ;  and  without  it,  let  us  not  wonder 
at  the  nimble  turns  of  the  world,  nor  reflect  upon  the  mis 
chiefs  that  attend  them.  Things  do  not  change.  Causes 
and  effects  are  ever  the  same ;  and  they  that  seek  to  over 
rule  the  eternal  order,  fight  with  the  winds  and  overthrow 
themselves.  But  what  is  this  to  my  subject?  I  close 
with  the  true  sense  of  all  thy  tenderness  to  our  poor  folks, 
and  regards  to  myself,  beseeching  God  that  more  than  the 
reward  of  him  that  gives  a  cup  of  cold  water  in  the  name 
of  a  disciple  may  be  thy  portion,  wrhen  this  very  trifling 
world  may  be  no  more. 

"  I  am  thy  affectionate,  true  Friend, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

Soon  after  the  writing  of  this  letter,  and  while  he  was 
turning  his  thoughts  towards  the  things  to  be  done  pre 
paratory  to  his  voyage,  he  was  arrested  by  a  body  of 
military,  and  brought  again  before  the  lords  of  the  council 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  361 

The  charge  then  against  him  was  that  he  was  holding  a 
traitorous  correspondence  with  the  late  king,  who  was 
then  in  France.  Upon  this,  he  desired  to  appeal  to  King 
William  in  person.  His  request  was  granted.  The  king 
and  council  appeared  together.  A  letter  was  then  pro 
duced  which  had  been  written  to  him  by  James,  and 
which  had  been  intercepted  by  government  on  its  way,  in 
which  he  (James)  "  desired  him  (Penn)  to  come  to  his 
assistance,  and  to  express  to  him  the  resentments  of  his 
favor  and  benevolence."  The  question  first  put  to  William 
Penn  was  why  King  James  wrote  to  him  ?  He  answered 
that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  prevent  the  king  from 
writing  to  him  if  he  (the  king)  chose  it.  He  was  then 
questioned  as  to  what  resentments  these  were  which  James 
seemed  to  desire  of  him.  He  answered,  "  he  knew  not ; 
but  he  supposed  the  king  meant  that  he  should  endeavor 
his  restoration.  Chough,  however,  he  could  not  avoid  the 
suspicion  of  such  an  attempt,  he  could  avoid  the  guilt  of 
it.  He  confessed  he  had  loved  King  James,  and,  as  he 
had  loved  him  in  his  prosperity,  he  could  not  hate  him  in 
his  adversity  ;  yes ;  he  loved  him  yet  for  the  many  favors 
he  had  conferred  on  him,  though  he  could  not  join  with 
him  in  what  concerned  the  state  of  the  kingdom.  He 
owned  again  that  he  had  been  much  obliged  to  the  king, 
and  that  he  was  willing  to  repay  his  kindness  by  any 
private  service  in  his  power ;  but  that  he  must  observe 
inviolably  and  entirely  that  duty  to  the  State  which  be 
longed  to  all  the  subjects  of  it;  and  therefore  that  he 
had  never  had  the  wickedness  even  to  think  of  endeavor- 
in  ior  to  restore  him  that  crown  which  had  fallen  from  his 
head  ;  so  that  nothing  in  that  letter  could  in  any  wise  fix 


362  PASSAGES     FliOM     THE     LIFE 

guilt  upon  him."  This  defence,  which  was  at  once  manly, 
open,  and  explicit,  had  its  weight  with  the  king,  so  that 
he  felt  himself  inclined  to  dismiss  him  as  an  innocent 
person  ;  but  some  of  the  council  interfering,  he,  to  please 
them,  ordered  him  to  give  bail  to  appear  at  the  next  Trin 
ity  term.  After  this  he  was  permitted  to  withdraw,  and 
to  go  at  large  as  before. 

At  the  time  appointed  he  appeared  in  court ;  but  here, 
as  before,  no  one  coining  forward  as  evidence  against  him, 
he  was  honorably  discharged. 

Being  once  more  at  liberty  he  returned  to  his  home, 
and  his  voyage  occupied  his  attention  again.  At  this  time 
the  country  was  in  great  consternation  on  account  of  an 
expected  invasion  by  the  French.  The  French  fleet  had 
already  beaten  the  English  in  conjunction  with  the  Dutch, 
and  was  then  hovering  otf  the  coast.  King  William,  too, 
was  in  Ireland.  The  queen  therefore  was  obliged  to  exert 
herself  in  defence  of  the  nation.  This  she  did  by  calling 
out  the  militia  and  in  other  ways;  but  in  order  to  strike 
terror  at  this  moment  into  the  supposed  conspirators  with 
France,  she  published  a  proclamation  for  apprehending 
about  twenty  persons,  mostly  noblemen,  and  including 
William  Penn.  The  proclamation  was  not  out  long  be 
fore  he  wras  again  apprehended  and  sent  to  prison.  He 
was  obliged  to  lie  there  till  the  last  day  of  Michaelmas 
term,  when  he  was  brought  up  before  the  King's  Bench 
Court,  Westminster,  for  trial.  The  result  was  equally 
honornble  as  in  the  former  cases ;  for,  though  evidence 
appeared,  it  failed  to  prove  anything  against  him. 

Just  at  this  time  he  attended  at  the  death-bed  of  his 
loved  and  honored  friend  George  Fox.  It  fell  to  his  lot 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  363 

to  communicate  this  event  to  his  wife,  who  was  then  in 
Lancashire.  His  letter  was  very  short.  "  I  am  to  be," 
says  he,  "  the  teller  to  thee  of  sorrowful  tidings  in  some 
respect,  which  is  this,  that  thy  dear  husband  and  my  be 
loved  and  dear  friend  finished  his  glorious  testimony  this 
night  about  half  an  hour  after  nine,  being  sensible  to  the 
last  breath.  Oh,  he  is  gone,  and  has  left  us  in  the  storm 
that  is  over  our  heads,  surely  in  great  mercy  to  him,  but 
as  an  evidence  to  us  of  sorrows  to  come  !  "  In  alluding 
to  his  powers  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  he  says,  "A 
prince  indeed  is  fallen  in  Israel  to-day  ;  "  and  to  his  irre 
proachable  life,  "  He  died  as  he  lived,  a  lamb,  minding  the 
things  of  God  and  his  church  to  the  last,  in  an  universal 
spirit. "  After  this,  when  the  time  came,  he  attended  his 
remains  to  the  grave.  Here  he  spoke  publicly,  and  for  a 
considerable  time,  to  about  two  thousand  persons  who  at 
tended  the  funeral. 

A  day  or  two  before  the  funeral  of  George  Fox,  an  in 
famous  character  of  the  name  of  Fuller,  one  whom  Par 
liament  afterwards  declared  a  cheat  and  an  impostor,  had 
come  forward  with  an  accusation  against  him  upon  oath, 
so  that  messengers  had  been  sent  to  the  very  funeral  itself 
with  a  warrant  to  apprehend  him  ;  but,  mistaking  the  hour, 
they  arrived  too  late  for  their  purpose.  Unable  now  to 
leave  the  kingdom  with  honor,  the  vessels  proceeded  with 
out  him  to  Pennsylvania. 

William  Penn  had  hitherto  defended  himself  before  the 
king  and  council,  and  established  his  innocence  to  general 
satisfaction.  But  the  prosecution  which  now  awaited  him 
seems  to  have  assumed  a  more  threatening  aspect  than  any 
preceding  one.  His  biographers  have  not  given  a  very 


364  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

clear  account  of  the  specific  charge  which  was  preferred 
against  him.  It  appears  to  have  been  a  participation  with 
others  in  a  conspiracy  for  the  restoration  of  James.  This 
plot  was  principally  charged  upon  the  Roman  Catholics, 
and  William  Penn  was,  in  the  idle  rumors  of  the  day, 
ranked  with  the  adherents  to  the  Popish  faith.  There 
was  therefore  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  general  odium 
resting  upon  the  professors  of  that  religion  would  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  this  prosecution.  The  trials  and 
executions  upon  the  pretended  disclosures  of  Gates  and 
Bcdloe  must  have  been  fresh  in  his  memory.  Under  these 
circumstances  William  Penn  judged  it  most  prudent  to 
remain  for  a  time  in  retirement.  He  accordingly  appeared 
but  little  in  public  for  two  or  three  years. 

There  seems  no  doubt  that,  as  his  private  residence  at 
London  could  have  easily  been  known,  the  king  and  queen 
had  no  desire  to  bring  him  to  trial,  believing  his  inno 
cence  ;  but  that  his  name  had  been  included  in  the  war 
rant  by  some  of  the  king's  advisers  for  the  sake  of  the 
effect  on  the  public  mind. 

From  the  place  of  his  seclusion  he  sent  the  following 
letter  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  ^Friends  : 

"Third  month  30th,  1691. 

"  MY  BELOVED,  DEAR,  AND  HONORED  BRETHREN  : — My 
unchangeable  love  salutes  you,  and  though  I  am  absent 
from  you,  I  feel  the  sweet  and  lowly  life  of  your  heavenly 
fellowship,  by  which  I  am  with  you,  and  a  partaker 
amongst  you,  whom  I  have  loved  above  my  chiefest  joy. 
Receive  no  evil  surmisings  ;  neither  suffer  hard  thoughts, 
through  the  insinuations  of  any,  to  enter  your  minds 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  365 

against,  me,  your  afflicted,  but  not  forsaken,  friend  and 
brother.  My  enemies  are  yours,  and,  in  the  ground,  mine 
for  your  sakes ;  and  that  God  seeth  in  secret,  and  will  one 
day  reward  openly.  My  privacy  is  not  because  men  have 
sworn  truly,  but  falsely,  against  me ;  '  for  wicked  men 
have  laid  in  wait  for  me,  and  false  witnesses  have  laid  to 
my  charge  things  that  I  knew  not ;'  who  have  never  sought 
myself,  but  the  good  of  all,  through  great  exercises  ;  and 
have  done  some  good,  and  would  have  done  more,  and 
hurt  no  man  ;  but  always  desired  that  truth  and  righteous 
ness,  mercy,  and  peace,  might  take  place  amongst  us. 
Feel  me  near  you,  and  lay  me  near  you,  my  dear  and 
beloved  brethren,  and  leave  me  not,  neither  forsake,  but 
wrestle  with  Him  that  is  able  to  prevail  against  the  cruel 
desires  of  some ;  that  we  may  yet  meet  in  the  congrega 
tions  of  his  people,  as  in  days  past,  to  our  mutual  comfort. 
The  everlasting  God  of  his  chosen,  in  all  generations,  be 
in  the  midst  of  you,  and  crown  your  most  solemn  as 
semblies  with  his  blessed  presence,  that  his  tender,  meek, 
lowly,  and  heavenly  love  and  life,  may  flow  among  you, 
and  that  He  would  please  to  make  it  a  seasoning  and 
fruitful  opportunity  to  you,  desiring  to  be  remembered  of 
you  before  Him,  in  the  nearest  and  freshest  accesses,  who 
cannot  forget  you  in  the  nearest  relation. 

"  Your  faithful  friend  and  brother, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

Soon  after  he  wrote  to  Thomas  Lloyd,  President  of  the 
Council  in  Pennsylvania. 

31* 


,->60  PASSAGES     F  R  ()  M     T  II  E     L  I  F  E 

"LONDON,  14th  of  Fourth  month,  1091. 

"  DEAR  FRIEND  : — My  love  in  the  unchangeable  truth 
salutes  thee  and  thine,  and  the  friends  and  family  of  God, 
in  those  parts,  desiring  your  temporal  and  everlasting  wel 
fare,  with  an  unfeigned  affection. 

"  By  this  time  thou  wilt  have  heard  of  the  renewal  of 
my  troubles,  the  only  let  of  my  return,  being  in  the  midst 
of  my  preparations,  with  a  great  company  of  adventurers, 
when  they  fell  upon  me.  The  jealousies  of  some,  and  un 
worthy  dealing  of-others,  have  made  way  for  them  ;  but 
under  and  over  it  all  the  ancient  rock  has  been  my  .shelter 
and  comfort;  and  I  hope  yet  to  see  your  faces,  with  our 
ancient  satisfactions.  The  Lord  grant,  if  it  be  for  his 
glory,  whose  I  desire  to  be,  in  all  conditions ;  for  this 
world  passeth  away  and  the  form  and  beauty  of  it  fadeth  ; 
but  there  are  eternal  habitations  for  the  faithful ;  amongst 
whom  I  pray  that  my  lot  may  be,  rather  than  amongst 
the  princes  of  the  earth.  I  hope  I  need  not  urge  my 
circumstances  to  excite  thy  love,  care,  and  concern  for  me 
and  my  suffering  interest  in  the  country.  I  know  thou 
hast  better  learned  Christ  and  Cato,  if  I  may  so  say,  and 
wilt  embrace  such  an  opportunity  to  choose  to  express 
thy  friendship  and  sincerity.  By  all  this  God  may  pre 
pare  me  to  be  fitter  for  future  service  even  to  you  there. 
I  ask  the  people  forgiveness  for  my  long  stay  ;  but  when 
I  consider  how  much  it  has  been  my  great  loss,  and  for 
an  ungrateful  generation,  it  is  punishment !  It  has  been 
£20,000  to  my  damage  in  the  country,  and  above  £10,000 
here,  and  to  the  province  five  hundred  families;  but  the 
wise  God  that  can  do  what  He  pleases,  as  well  as  see  what 
is  in  man's  heart,  is  able  to  requite  all  ;  and  I  am  persuaded 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXN.  367 

all  ^luill  yet  work  together  for  gooi  in  this  very  thing,  if 
wo  can  overlook  all  that  stands  in  the  way  of  our  views, 
Godward,  in  public  matters.  See  that  all  he  done  prudently 
and  humbly,  and  keep  down  irreverence  and  looseness, 
and  cherish  industry  and  sobriety. 

"  Thou  hast  heard  of  our  great  loss  of  dear  John  Bu.ni- 
yeat,  arid  Robert  Lodges,  one  in  Ireland,  and  t'other  in 
England,  in  about  the  same  week ;  and  Robert  Barclay, 
Th.  Salthousc,  and  dearly  beloved  George  Fox,  since.  lie 
died  at  Henry  Goulney's,  by  Gracious  Street  meeting 
house,  where  he  preached  his  farewell  the  First  day,  and 
departed  the  Third,  at  night,  between  nine  and  ten.  I 
was  with  him  ;  he  earnestly  recommended  to  me  his  love 
to  you  all,  and  said,  '  William,  mind  poor  Friends  in 
America.'  He  died  triumphantly  over  death;  very  easily 
foresaw  his  change.  He  was  got  into  his  inn,  before  the 
storm  that  is  coming  overtook  him,  and  that  night,  very 
providentially,  I  escaped  the  messenger's  hands.  I  shall 
add  only,  that  Friends  have  had  an  extraordinary  time 
this  General  Meeting,  so  that  God  supplied  that  visible 
loss  with  his  glorious  presence.1' 


308  PASSAGES     F  Ji  O  il    T  II  E     L  I  F  E 


XX. 

WILLIAM  PENN  did  not  permit  the  time  of  his  seclu 
sion  to  pass  unemployed,  but  produced  several  valu 
able  tracts.     One  of  them  is  entitled 

"A  KEY,  OPENING  THE  WAY  TO  EVERY  CAPACITY  HOW  TO 
DISTINGUISH  THE  RELIGION  PROFESSED  BY  THE  PEOPLE 
CALLED  QUAKERS  FROM  THE  PERVERSIONS  AND  MISREP 
RESENTATIONS  OF  THEIR  ADVERSARIES." 

The  following-  passages  are  taken  from  it. 

READER  : — Observing  the  prevailing  power  of  prejudice, 
we  have  the  less  wondered  at  the  hard  treatment  which 
we,  as  a  people,  have  suffered  from  other  persuasions. 
The  credulous  have  been  excited  to  look  upon  and  treat 
us  as  heretics,  seducers,  blasphemers,  and  what  not,  while, 
blessed  be  God,  our  aim  and  bent  have  been  the  very  power 
and  work  of  religion  upon  our  souls,  that  we  might  be 
God's  workmanship,  through  Christ  Jesus  his  blessed  Son 
and  heavenly  agent;  taking  this  to  be  the  very  life  and  soul 
of  true  religion,  the  effect  and  fruit  of  the  Divine  nature, 
which  makes  us  Christians  indeed  here  and  fits  us  for  glory 
hereafter.  It  will  be  the  business  of  this  little  key  to 
open  a  way  to  so  clear  and  plain  an  understanding  of  our 
true  principles,  distinguished  from  our  enemies'  perver 
sions,  that  we  hope,  with  God's  blessing,  all  impartial 


OF     WILLIAM     PKXX.  361) 

inquirers  will  be  satisfied  of  our  holy  and  Christian  pro 
fession. 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  hold  that  the  natural  light  in 
the  conscience  of  every  man  MI  the  world  is  sufficient  to 
save  all  that  follow  it,  and  so  ihey  overthrow  salvation  by 
Christ. 

A  mighty  error  indeed,  if  it  were  true. 

Principle.  But  it  is  at  best  a  great  mistake.  For  their 
belief  and  assertion  is,  that  Christ,  who  is  the  Word  that 
was  with  God,  and  was  God,  and  is  so  forever,  hath  en 
lightened  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world  with  his 
own  light.  And  that  such  as  follow  the  reproofs,  con 
victions,  and  leadings  of  that  light,  with  which  He  en 
lightens  the  understandings  and  consciences  of  men,  shall 
not  walk  in  darkness,  that  is,  in  evil  and  ignorance  of 
God,  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life,  that  is,  be  in  a  holy 
and  living  state  or  condition  towards  God — a  state  of 
acceptance  and  salvation,  which  is  from  sin  here  as  well 
as  from  wrath  hereafter,  for  which  end  Christ  was  given 
of  God.  So  that  they  assert  the  light  of  Christ  to  be 
sufficient  to  save,  that  is,  to  convince  of  sin,  lead  out  of  it, 
and  quicken  the  soul  in  the  ways  of  holiness,  and  not  to  be 
a  natural  light ;  but  as  all  men  born  into  the  world  have  a 
measure  of  Christ's  light,  so  it  may,  in  a  sense,  be  said  to 
be  natural  to  all  men,  because  all  men  who  come  into  the 
world  have  it.  This  light  is  something  else  than  the  bare 
understanding  man  hath  as  a  rational  creature ;  since,  as 
puch,  man  cannot  be  a  light  to  himself,  but  has  only  a 
capacity  of  seeing  by  means  of  the  light  with  which 
Christ,  the  Word,  enlighteneth  him.  But  as  the  sun  in 
the  firmament  is  the  light  of  our  bodies,  so  the  light  of  the 


370  P  A  S  S  A  G  E  S     F  II  O  M     T  TIE     L  I  F  E 

Divine  Word  is  the  sun  of  our  souls— the  glorious  lumi 
nary  of  the  intellectual  world ;  and  they  that  walk  in  it 
will  by  it  be  led  to  blessedness. 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  hold  that  the  light  within  them 
is  God,  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  so  that  every  Quaker 
has  whole  God,  Christ,  and  Holy  Spirit  in  him,  which  is 
gross  blasphemy. 

Principle.  This  is  also  a  mistake  of  their  belief.  They 
never  said  that  every  Divine  illumination,  or  manifesta 
tion  of  Christ  in  the  hearts  of  men,  was  whole  God, 
Christ,  or  the  Spirit,  which  might  render  them  guilty  of 
that  gross  and  blasphemous  absurdity  some  would  fasten 
upon  them.  But  that  God,  who  is  light,  or  the  Word 
Christ,  who  is  light,  styled  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord 
from  heaven,  and  the  quickening  Spirit,  who  is  God  over 
all,  blessed  forever,  hath  enlightened  mankind  with  a 
measure  of  saving  light;  who  said,  I  am  the  Light  of 
the  world ;  and  they  that  follow  me  shall  not  abide  in 
darkness,  but  have  the  light  of  life.  So  that  the  illumi 
nation  is  from  God,  or  Christ  the  Divine  Word;  but  not, 
therefore,  that  whole  God  or  Christ  is  in  every  man,  any 
more  than  the  whole  sun  or  air  is  in  every  house  or  cham 
ber. 

Yet  in  a  sense  the  Scriptures  say  it,  and  that  is  their 
sense,  in  which  only  they  say  the  same  thing.  I  will 
walk  in  them  and  dwell  in  them.  He  that  dwelleth  with 
you  shall  be  in  you.  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless,  1 
will  come  to  you.  I  in  them  and  they  in  me.  Christ  in 
us  the  hope  of  glory.  Unless  Christ  be  in  you,  ye  are 
reprobates. 


OF    WILLIAM     PR  NX.  371 

Perversion.  By  the  Quaker's  doctrine  every  man  must 
be  saved,  for  every  man,  they  say,  is  savingly  enlightened. 

Principle.  Not  so  either.  For  though  the  light  or  grace 
of  God  hath  and  doth,  more  or  less,  appear  to  all  men, 
and  brings  salvation  to  as  many  as  are  taught  by  it  to 
deny  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly 
and  righteously  and  godly  in  this  present  world,  as  the 
Scripture  teacheth,  yet  it  no  way  follows  that  men  must 
obey  and  learn  so  to  do  whether  they  will  or  not.  God 
tenders  saving  light  or  grace  to  all,  and  by  it  calls  all, 
and  strives  and  pleads  with  all,  according  to  the  measure 
and  manifestation  of  it ;  but  if  they  will  not  hearken  to 
it,  lie  is  clear  of  their  blood. 

Perversion.  By  the  Quakers'  Light  or  Spirit  they  may 
be  moved  to  murder,  treason,  theft,  or  any  such  like  wick 
edness,  because  they  say  that  such  as  are  so  led  have  the 
light  within  them. 

Principle.  This  never  was  their  doctrine,  nor  is  it  con 
sequent  of  it.  For  though  they  hold  that  all  have  light, 
they  never  said  that  all  obeyed  it,  or  that  evil  men,  as 
such,  or  in  such  things,  were  led  by  it.  For  herein  they 
know  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  motions  of  it  from  the 
spirit  of  this  world  and  its  fruits — that  the  Spirit  of  God 
condemns  all  ungodliness,  and  moves  and  inclines  to 
purity,  mercy,  and  righteousness,  which  are  of  God. 

They  deny  and  abominate  that  loose  and  ranting  mind 
which  would. charge  the  Spirit  of  God  with  their  unholy 
liberty.  God's  Spirit  makes  people  free  from*sin,  and  not 
to  commit  sin.  Man's  sin  arid  destruction  arc  of  himself; 
but  his  help  is  in  God  alone,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our 
blessed  sacrifice  and  sanctifier. 


372  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  must  all  be  infallible  and  per 
fect,  if  they  have  such  an  infallible  light  in  them. 

Principle.  No  such  matter.  This  is  also  a  great  abuse  of 
their  true  meaning.  They  say  the  spirit  of  Truth  is  pure, 
perfect,  unerrable  in  itself,  or  else  it  were  very  unfit  to 
lead  men  out  of  error  and  impurity.  But  they  never  did 
assert  themselves  such,  merely  because  it  was  within  them, 
by  no  means.  But  that  all  who  are  led  by  it,  and  live  ac 
cording  to  its  manifestation,  are  so  far  perfect,  and  so  far 
infallible  in  the  right  way  as  they  are  led  by  it,  and  not  a 
jot  farther.  And  let  it  be  noted  that  though  this  Spirit 
be  in  man,  yet  it  is  not  of  man,  but  of  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ. 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  deny  the  Scriptures,  for  they 
deny  them  to  be  the  Word  of  God. 

Principle.  They  own  and  style  the  Scriptures  as  they 
own  and  style  themselves,  viz.,  a  declaration  of  those  things 
most  truly  believed,  given  forth  in  former  ages  by  the 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  consequently,  that  they 
are  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for 
instruction  in  righteousness,  that  the  man  of  God  may  be 
perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.  They 
are  the  form  of  sound  words.  We  profess  to  believe  them 
and  read  them,  and  say  it  is  the  work  we  have  to  do  in 
this  world,  and  the  earnest  desire  of  our  souls  to  Almighty 
God  that  we  may  feel  and  witness  the  fulfilling  of  them  in 
and  upon  ourselves ;  that  so  God's  will  may  be  done  in 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  But  to  call  them  the  Word  of 
God,  the  ground  of  the  charge,  which  they  never  call 
themselves,  but  by  which  they  peculiarly  denominate  and 
call  Christ,  in  reference  to  Christ  and  in  no  slight  to  them, 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  373 

(which  we  believe  to  he  of  Divine  authority,  and  embrace 
as  the  best  of  books,  and  allow  to  be  as  much  the  Word 
of  God  as  a  book  can  be,)  they  do,  as  in  duty  and  reason 
bound,  attribute  that  title  to  Christ  onh'. 

And  yet,  as  the  word  of  God  may,  in  some  sense,  sig 
nify  the  command  of  God,  referring-  to  the  thing-  or  matter 
commanded  as  the  mind  of  God,  it  may  be  called  the  Word 
of  the  Lord,  or  Word  of  God ;  as,  on  particular  occasions, 
the  prophets  had  the  Word  of  the  Lord  to  persons  and 
places,  that  is  to  say,  the  mind  or  will  of  God,  or  that 
which  was  commanded  them  of  the  Lord  to  declare  or  do. 
So  Christ  uses  it  when  He  tells  the  Pharisees  that  they 
had  made  the  word  (or  command)  of  God  of  none  effect  by 
their  traditions.  But  because  people  are  so  apt  to  think 
if  they  have  the  Scriptures  they  have  all  (for  that  they 
account  them  the  only  word  of  God,  and  so  look  no  far 
ther,  that  is,  to  no  other  Word,  from  whence  those  good 
words  came),  therefore  this  people  have  been  constrained, 
and,  they  believe,  by  God's  good  Spirit,  once  and  again  to 
point  them  to  the  great  Word  of  words,  Christ  Jesus,  in 
whom  is  life,  and  that  life  the  light  of  men ;  that  they 
might  feel  something  nearer  to  them  than  the  Scriptures, 
to  wit,  the  Word  in  the  heart,  from  whence  all  Holy  Scrip 
ture  came,  which  is  Christ  within  them  the  hope  of  their 
glory.  And  to  be  sure  He  is  the  only  right  expounder, 
as  well  as  the  author,  of  Holy  Scripture,  without  whose 
light,  spirit,  or  grace  they  cannot  be  savingly  read  by  those 
that  read  them. 

God  hath  made  use  of  the  Scriptures,  and  daily  doth 
rnd  will  make  use  of  them,  for  instruction,  reproof,  com 
fort,  and  edification,  through  the  Spirit,  to  those  that  read 
32 


374  r  A  s  s  A  G  E  s   F  1 1  o  M   T  u  E  L  i  F  E 

them  as  they  ought  to  do.  Thus  they  say  they  have  felt 
them,  and  ^o  they  have  been  and  are  made  unto  them, 
and  wish  heartily  they  were  more  in  request  with  the 
professors  of  Christianity. 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  assert  the  Spirit  of  God  to  be 
•the  immediate  teacher,  and  that  there  is  no  other  means 
now  to  be  used,  as  ministry,  ordinances,  etc. 

Principle.  They  never  denied  the  use  of  means,  but  to 
this  day,  from  the  beginning,  they  have  been  in  the  prac 
tice  of  them.  But  then  they  arc  such  means  as  are  used 
in  the  life  and  power  of  God.  They  cannot  own  that  to 
be  a  Gospel  ministry  that  is  without  a  Gospel  Spirit,  or 
that  such  can  be  sent  of  God  who  arc  not  taught  of  God, 
or  that  they  are  fit  to  teach  others  what  regeneration  and 
the  way  to  heaven  are  who  have  never  been  born  again 
themselves;  or  that  such  can  bring'  souls  to  God  who  are 
themselves  strangers  (like  those  in  the  Acts  xix.  21)  to 
the  baptism  of  fire  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 

This  unexperienced  and  lifeless  ministry  is  the  only 
ministry,  and  such  the  only  ministers  that  the  people 
called  Quakers  cannot  own  and  receive,  and  therefore  can 
not  maintain.  For  the  ministry  and  the  ministers  that 
are  according  to  Scripture,  they  both  own,  respect,  and 
delight  in,  and  are  ready  to  assist  and  support  in  their 
service  for  God. 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  deny  the  Trinity. 

Principle.  Nothing  less :  they  believe  in  the  holy  three,  or 
Trinity  of  Father,  Word  and  Spirit,  according  to  Scripture. 
And  that  these  three  are  truly  and  properly  one  ;  of  one 
nut ure  as  well  as  will.  But  they  are  very  tender  of  quit 
ting  Scripture  terms  and  phrases  for  schoolmen's,  such  ,13 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  375 

distinct  and  separate  persons  and  subsistences,  etc.,  are  ; 
from  whence  people  are  apt  to  entertain  gross  ideas  and 
notions  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  And  they 
j'.id,c  that  a  curious  inquiry  into  those  high  and  divine 
revelations,  or  into  speculative  subjects,  though  never  so 
great  truths  in  themselves,  tend  little  to  godliness  and  less 
to  peace,  which  should  be  the  chief  aim  of  true  Christians. 
Therefore  they  cannot  gratify  that  curiosity  in  themselves 
or  others.  Speculative  truths  are,  in  their  judgment,  to 
lie  sparingly  and  tenderly  declared,  and  never  to  be  made 
the  measure  and  condition  of  Christian  communion.  For 
besides  that  Christ  Jesus  hath  taught  them  other  things, 
the  sad  consequence,  in  all  times,  of  superfiriing  upon 
Scripture  texts,  do  sufficiently  caution  and  forbid  them. 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  deny  Christ  to  be  God. 

Principle.  A  most  untrue  and  unreasonable  censure,  for 
their  great  and  characteristic  principle  being  this,  that 
Christ,  as  the  Divine  Word,  lighteth  the  souls  of  all  men 
that  come  into  the  world,  with  a  spiritual  and  saving 
light,  according  to  John  i.  9,  viii.  12,  which  nothing  but 
the  Creator  of  souls  can  do,  it  sufficiently  shows  that  they 
believe  Him  to  be  God,  for  they  truly  and  expressly  own 
Him  to  be  so,  according  to  Scripture,  viz.  :  "In  Him  was 
Life,  and  that  Life  the  light  of  men  ;  and  He  is  God  over 
all,  blessed  forever." 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  deny  the  human  nature  of 
Christ. 

Principle.  We  never  taught,  said,  or  held  so  gross  a 
thing,  if  by  human  nature  be  understood  the  manhood  of 
Christ  Jesus.  For  as  we  believe  Him  to  be  God  over  all, 
blessed  forever,  so  we  do  as  trnlv  believe  Him  to  be  of  the 


3T6  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

seed  of  Abraham  and  David  after  the  flesh,  and  therefore 
truly  and  properly  man,  like  us  in  all  things,  and  once  sub 
ject  to  all  things  for  our  sales,  sin  only  excepted. 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  expect  to  be  justified  and 
saved  by  the  Light  within  them,  and  not  by  the  death 
and  sufferings  of  Christ. 

Principle.  This  is  both  unfairly  and  untruly  stated  and 
charged  upon  us.  But  the  various  senses  of  the  word 
justification,  oblige  me  here  to  distinguish  the  use  of  it, 
for  in  the  natural  and  proper  sense  it  plainly  implies  male- 
ing  men  just  who  were  unjust,  godly  that  were  ungodly, 
upright  that  were  depraved ;  as  the  apostle  exprcsscth 
himself,  1  Cor.  vi.  11,  "And  such  were  some  of  you,  but 
ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified 
in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our 
God."  In  the  other  use  of  the  word,  which  sonic  call  a 
law-sense,  it  refers  to  Christ  as  a  sacrifice  and  propitiation 
for  sin,  as  in  Horn.  v.  9,  "Much  more  then,  being  now 
justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved  from  wrath 
through  Him  ;  "  and  1  John  ii.  1,2,  "If  any  man  sin,  we 
have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  right 
eous,  and  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins  ;  and  not  for 
ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world." 
Which,  though  a  great  truth  and  most  firmly  believed  by 
us,  yet  no  man  can  be  entitled  to  the  benefit  thereof,  but 
as  he  comes  to  believe  and  repent  of  the  evil  of  his  ways, 
and  then  it  may  be  truly  said  that  God  justifieth  even  tho 
ungodly,  and  looks  upon  them  through  Christ,  as  if  they 
had  never  sinned,  because  their  sins  are  forgiven  them  for 
his  beloved  Son's  sake. 

Not  that  God  looks  on  people  to  be  in  Christ,  who  are 


0  F     W  I  L  L  I  A  M     P  E  XX.  377 

tot  in  Christ,  that  is,  who  ore  not  in  the  faith,  obedience 
and  self-denial  of  Christ,  nor  sanctified,  nor  led  by  his 
Spirit,  but  rebel  against  it,  and  instead  of  dying  to  sin 
through  a  true  and  unfeigned  repentance,  live  and  indulge 
themselves  daily  in  it;  for  they  that  are  in  Christ  become 
new  creatures,  old  things  are  passed  away,  and  all  things 
with  them  become  new.  Wherefore,  we  say,  that  what 
ever  Christ  then  did,  both  living  and  dying,  was  of  great 
benefit  to  the  salvation  of  all  who  have  believed,  and  now 
do,  and  who  hereafter  shall  believe  in  Him  unto  justifica 
tion  and  acceptance  with  God.  But  the  way  to  come  to 
that  faith  is  to  receive  and  obey  the  manifestation  of  his 
Divine  light  and  grace  in  their  consciences,  which  leads 
men  to  believe  and  value,  and  not  to  disown  or  under 
value  Christ,  as  the  common  sacrifice  and  mediator.  For 
we  do  affirm,  that  to  follow  this  holy  Light  in  the  con 
science,  and  to  turn  our  minds  and  bring  all  our  deeds 
and  thoughts  to  it,  is  the  readiest,  nay,  the  only  right  way 
to  have  true  living  and  sanctifying  faith  in  Christ  as  He 
appeared  in  the  flesh,  and  to  discern  the  Lord's  body, 
coming,  and  sufferings  aright,  and  to  receive  any  real 
benefit  by  Him,  as  their  only  sacrifice  and  mediator. 
According  to  the  beloved  disciple's  emphatical  passages, 
"  If  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  (God)  is  in  the  light,  we 
have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  And  because 
this  people  say,  that  Christ's  outward  coming  and  suffer 
ings  profit  not  to  their  salvation  who  live  in  sin  and  rebel 
against  this  Divine  light,  so'ne  have  untruly  and  unchar 
itably  concluded  that  they  deny  the  virtue  and  benefit  of 
Christ's  coming  and  sufferings  in  the  flesh  as  a  sacrifice  for 
32* 


378  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

sin.  Whereas  we  only  deny  and  oppose  a  false  and  dan 
gerous  application  of  them  in  and  to  a  disobedient  state. 
For  we  believe  Christ  came  not  to  save  men  in  their  sins, 
but  from  their  sins  ;  and  that  those  that  open  the  door  of 
their  hearts  at  his  inward  and  spiritual  knocks  (to  wit, 
the  reproofs  and  convictions  of  his  light  and  grace),  have 
their  consciences  sprinkled  with  his  blood  (that  is,  dis 
charged  from  the  guilt  of  them),  from  dead  works,  to  serve 
the  living  God.  And  so  far  only  as  men  come  by  faith, 
repentance,  and  amendment  to  be  Christ's,  Christ  is  theirs, 
and  as  He  has  an  interest  in  their  hearts,  they  have  an 
interest  in  his  love  and  salvation,  that  is,  so  far  as  they 
are  obedient  to  his  grace  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow 
Him  in  the  ways  of  meekness,  holiness,  and  self-denial ;  so 
far  they  have  an  interest  in  Christ,  and  no  farther.  And 
here  there  is  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ 
Jesus,  because  such  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the 
Spirit,  for  we  have  seen  a  shoal  or  sand  here  upon  which 
we  fear  many  thousands  have  split,  and  which  we  desire 
to  avoid,  and  arc  earnest  that  others  may  beware  of  it 
also,  viz.,  that  because  Christ  died  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world,  by  which  lie  put  mankind  into  a 
capacity  of  salvation,  and  has  given  every  one  a  talent 
of  grace  to  work  it  out  by,  they  presume  upon  that  sacri 
fice,  and  sin  on,  without  a  thorough  repentance,  reforma 
tion,  and  conversion  to  God,  not  dying  with  Christ  to  the 
world,  but  living  in  it  according  to  the  lusts  and  spirit  of 
it.  Such  as  these  may  be  assured  that  where  Christ  is 
gone  they  shall  never  come,  for,  says  the  blessed  apostle, 
God  sent  his  Son  to  bless  us,  by  turning  every  one  of  us 
from  the  evil  of  our  wav. 


O  I1     W  I  L  L  I  A  M     P  E  N  K  .  379 

Perversion.  Thus  it  is  the  Quakers  set  up  works,  and 
meriting  by  works,  like  the  Papists,  whereby  justification 
by  faith  in  Christ  is  laid  aside. 

Principle.  By  no  means.  But  they  say  with  the  Apostle 
James,  eh.  ii.,  that  true  faith  in  Christ  cannot  be  without 
works,  any  more  than  a  body  can  live  without  a  spirit ; 
and  that  where  there  is  life  there  is  motion,  and  where 
there  is  no  Divine  life  and  motion,  there  can  be  no  true 
faith,  believing-  being  a  fruit  of  Divine  life.  The  very  be 
lieving  is  an  act  of  the  mind,  concurring  with  God's  work 
ing  in  or  upon  the  mind,  and  therefore  a  godly  work. 
And  no  sooner  is  true  faith  begotten  in  a  soul,  but  it  falls 
to  working,  which  is  both  the  nature  and,  in  some  respects, 
the  end  of  it. 

Nor  yet  do  we  say  that  our  very  best  works,  proceed 
ing  from  the  true  faith  itself,  can  merit.  No,  nor  faith 
joined  with  them,  because  eternal  life  is  the  gift  of  God. 
All  that  man  is  capable  of  believing  or  performing  can 
never  properly  be  said  to  merit  everlasting-  blessedness, 
because  there  can  be  no  proportion  (as  there  must  be  in  case 
of  merit)  between  the  best  works  that  can  be  performed 
iii  the  life  of  man  and  an  eternal  felicity.  Wherefore,  all 
that  man  can  do,  even  with  the  assistance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  can  never  be  said  strictly  to  merit  as  a  debt  due  to 
the  creature.  But  on  the  other  hand,  that  right  faith, 
and  good  works  which  arise  out  of  it  or  will  follow  it, 
may  and  do  obtain  the  blessed  immortality  which  it 
please! h  Almighty  God  to  give  and  to  privilege  the  sons 
<•!'  men  with,  who  perform  that  necessary  condition,  is  a 
Gospel  and  necessary  truth.  And  this  the  Quakers  ground 
upon,  and  therefore  boldly  affirm  to  the  world. 


380  P  A  S  S  A  G  K  S     F  II  ( )  M     T  f  I  E     LIFE 

So  that  they  deny  all  merit  from  the  best  of  works, 
especially  by  such  as  some  Papists  may  conceive  to  be 
meritorious.  But  as  they  on  the  one  hand  deny  the  meri- 
toriousncss  of  works,  so  on  the  other  hand  neither  can  they 
join  with  that  lazy  faith  which  wrorks  not  out  the  salva 
tion  of  the  soul  with  fear  and  trembling.  Blessed  is  he 
that  hears  Christ's  words  and  does  them.  The  doer  is 
only  accepted.  Wherefore,  it  shall  be  said  at  the  last 
day,  not  well  professed,  but  well  done  good  and  faithful 
servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.  Thou  holy, 
humble,  patient,  and  meek  liver,  thou  that  lovedst  me 
above  all,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,  enter  thou.  For 
thec,  and  such  as  thou  art,  was  it  prepared  from  the  foun 
dation  of  the  world.  Which  recompense  of  his  faithful 
ness  is  the  infinite  love  of  God,  revealed  and  given  to 
man  through  Christ.  For  though  death  be  the  wages 
of  sin,  yet  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  to  such.  So  that 
as  the  people  called  Quakers  do  not  hold  that  their  good 
w^orks  merit,  neither  believe  they  that  their  good  works 
justify  them  ;  for  though  none  are  justified  that  are  not 
in  measure  sanctified,  yet  all  that  man  does  is  duty,  and 
therefore  cannot  blot  out  old  scores,  for  that  is  mere 
grace  and  favor,  upon  repentance,  through  Christ  the  sac 
rifice  and  mediator,  our  great  scapegoat.  So  that  men  are 
not  justified  because  they  are  sanctified,  but  for  his  sake 
that  sanctifies  them,  and  works  all  their  good  works  in 
them  and  for  them,  and  presents  them  blameless,  to  wit, 
Christ  Jesus,  who  is  made  unto  them,  as  He  was  to  the 
saints  of  old,  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  and 
redemption,  that  he  that  gloricth  might  glory  in  the 
Lord. 


OF     WIT,  LI  AM     PENN.  381 

Perversion.  The  Quakers  deny  the  two  great  sacraments 
or  ordinances  of  the  Gospel,  baptism  and  the  supper. 

Principle.  Whatever  is  truly  and  properly  a  Gospel  ordi 
nance  they  desire  to  own  and  practise ;  but  they  observe 
no  such  language  in  the  Scripture  as  in  the  reflection. 
They  do  confess  the  practice  of  John's  baptism  and  the 
supper  is  to  be  found  there ;  but  practice  only  is  no  insti 
tution,  nor  a  sufficient  reason  of  continuation.  That  they 
were  then  proper,  they  believe,  it  being  a  time  of  great 
infancy,  and  when  the  mysteries  of  truth  lay  yet  couched 
and  folded  up  in  figures  and  shadows,  as  is  acknowledged 
by  Protestants.  But  it  is  their  belief  that  no  figures  or 
signs  are  perpetual  or  of  institution  under  the  Gospel  ad 
ministration,  when  Christ,  who  is  the  substance  of  them, 
is  come ;  though  their  use  might  have  been  indulged  to 
young  converts  in  primitive  times,  because  of  the  conde 
scension  of  former  practices. 

It  were  to  overthrow  the  whole  Gospel'  dispensation, 
and  to  make  the  coming  of  Christ  of  none  effect,  to  render 
signs  and  figures  of  the  nature  of  the  Gospel,  which  is 
inward  and  spiritual.  If  it  be  said,  but  they  were  used 
after  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  his  ascension,  too :  they 
answer,  so  were  many  Jewish  ceremonies,  not  easily  abol 
ished,  as  circumcision,  etc.  It  is  sufficient  to  them  that 
water  baptism  was  John's,  and  not  Christ's,  see  Matt.  iii. 
11,  Acts  i.  5  ;  that  Jesus  never  used  it,  John  iv.  2  ;  that 
it  was  no  part  of  Paul's  commission,  which  if  it  were 
evangelical  and  of  duration,  it  certainly  would  have  been, 
1  Cor.  iv.  15,  1G,  17  ;  that  there  is  but  one  baptism,  as 
well  as  one  faith,  and  one  Lord,  Eph.  v.  4 ;  and  that  bip. 
tisni  ought  to  be  of  the  same  nature  with  the  kingdom  of 


382  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

which  it  is  an  ordinance,  and  that  is  spiritual.  Tho  same 
holds  also  as  to  the  supper,  both  alluding  to  old  Jewish 
practices,  and  used  as  a  signification  of  a  near  and  accom 
plishing  work,  viz.,  the  substance  they  represented. 

If  any  say,  but  Christ  commanded  that  one  of  them 
should  continue  in  remembrance  of  Him,  which  the  apostle 
to  the  church  of  Corinth  explains  thus  :  that  thereby  they 
do  show  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  He  comes.  We  allege 
that  He  that  said  so,  told  his  disciples  also  that  He  would 
come  to  them  again  ;  that  some  should  not  taste  death 
till  they  saw  Him  coming  in  the  kingdom ;  and  that  lie 
that  dwelleth  with  them  should  be  in  them  ;  and  that  He 
would  drink  no  more  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine  till  lie  should 
drink  it  new  with  them  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  which 
is  the  new  wine  that  was  to  be  put  into  the  new  bottles, 
and  is  the  wine  of  the  kingdom,  as  He  expresseth  it  in 
the  same  place  ;  which  kingdom  is  within,  as  may  be  read 
in  Luke.  He  was  the  -heavenly  bread  that  they  had  not 
yet  known,  nor  his  flesh  and  blood,  as  they  were  to  know 
them,  as  may  be  seen,  John  vi.  So  that  though  Christ 
came  to  end  all  signs,  yet  till  He  was  known  to  be  the 
substance  to  the  soul,  as  the  great  Bread  of  life  from 
heaven,  signs  had  their  service  with  them,  to  show  forth 
and  hold  in  hand,  and  in  remembrance  of  Christ;  espe 
cially  to  the  people  of  that  day,  whose  religion  was  at 
tended  with  a  multitude  of  the  like  types,  shadows,  and 
signs  of  the  one  good  thing  and  substance  of  all,  Christ 
manifested  in  -his  people.  And  that  great  Apostle  Paul 
says  expressly  of  the  Jewish  observations,  that  they  were 
shadows  of  the  good  things  to  come,  but  the  substance 
was  of  Christ.  Hence  it  is,  that  the  people  called  Quakers 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  oS3 

cannot  be  said  to  deny  them.  That  is  too  hard  a  word; 
but  they,  truly  feeling  in  themselves  the  very  thing  which 
outward  water,  bread,  and  wine  do  signify  or  point  forth 
(to  say  nothing  here  of  their  abuse,  and  what  in  that  case 
may  be  argued,  from  the  instance  of  Hezckiah's  taking 
away  the  brazen  serpent  by  God's  command),  they  leave 
them  off,  as  fulfilled  in  Christ,  who  is  in  them  the  hope  of 
their  glory,  and  henceforth  they  have  but  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  baptism,  one  bread,  and  one  cup  of  blessings; 
and  that  is  the  new  wine  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  which 
is  within. 

During  his  retirement  he  wrote  a  most  excellent  work, 
entitled  "  SOME  FRUITS  OF  SOLITUDE,  IN  REFLECTIONS  AND 

MAXIMS  RELATING  TO  THE  CONDUCT  OF  HUMAN  LlFE." 

In  the  preface,  he  speaks  thus  of  his  seclusion  from  the 
world. 

"READER: — This  enchiridion  I  present  thce  with  is  the 
fruit  of  solitude,  a  school  few  care  to  learn  in,  though  none 
instructs  us  better.  Some  parts  of  it  are  the  results  of 
serious  reflection,  others  the  flashing  of  lucid  intervals, 
written  for  private  satisfaction,  and  now  published  for  an 
help  to  human  conduct. 

"The  author  blesseth  God  for  his  retirement,  and  kisses 
that  gentle  hand  which  led  him  into  it ;  for,  though  it 
should  prove  barren  to  the  world,  it  can  never  do  so  to  him. 

"  He  has  now  had  some  time  he  could  call  his  own, — a 
property  he  was  never  so  much  master  of  before, — in  which 
he  has  taken  a  view  of  himself  and  the  world,  and  observed 
\\liorein  he  has  hit  or  missed  the  mark;  what  might  have 


334  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

been  done;  what  mended,  and  what  avoided  in  human  con- 
duet  ;  together  with  the  omissions  and  excesses  of  others, 
as  well  societies  and  governments  as  private  families  and 
persons.  And  he  verily  thinks,  were  he  to  live  over  his 
life  again,  he  could  not  only,  with  God's  grace,  serve  Him, 
but  his  neighbor  and  himself,  better  than  he  hath  done, 
and  have  seven  years  of  his  time  to  spare.  And  yet,  per 
haps,  he  hath  not  been  the  worst  or  the  idlest  man  in  the 
world,  nor  is  he  the  oldest.  And  this  is  the  rather  said, 
that  it  might  quicken  thee,  reader,  to  lose  none  of  the  time 
that  is  yet  thine. 

"  There  is  nothing  of  which  we  are  apt  to  be  so  lavish 
as  of  time,  and  about  which  we  ought  to  be  more  solici 
tous,  since,  without  it,  we  can  do  nothing  in  the  world. 
Time  is  what  we  want  most,  but,  what,  alas!  we  use  worst, 
and  for  which  God  will  certainly  most  strictly  reckon  with 
us  when  time  shall  be  no  more  ! " 

During  this  retirement,  it  probably  was,  that  he  pro 
duced  a  small  work,  bearing  the  appearance  of  a  political 
character,  but  essentially  a  philanthropic  and  religious 
essay. 

The  nations  of  Europe  were,  at  that  time,  very  gener 
ally  engaged  in  a  sanguinary  war.  William  Penn  com 
miserating  the  sufferings  inevitably  attendant  on  these 
extensive  hostilities,  made  an  effort  to  draw  the  attention 
of  his  cotemporaries  to  a  more  rational  method  of  adjust 
ing  the  controversies  of  nations.  In  pursuance  of  this 
design  he  wrote  "AN  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PRESENT  AND 
FUTURE  PEACE  or  EUROPE,  BY  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  AN 
EUROPEAN  DIET,  PARLIAMENT,  OR  ESTATES."  In  this  he 


O  P     W  I  L,  L  I  A  M     P  E  N  N  .  38o 

first  lays  clown  the  advantages  of  peace,  and  the  evils,  the 
dangers,  the  expenses,  and  desolations  ol  war.  He  then 
explains  the  ostensible  object  of  war  to  be  the  establish 
ment  of  justice,  but  that  a  lawless  ambition  is  a  more 
common  stimulant.  That  justice  in  a  government  pre 
serves  the  internal  peace  of  a  country,  but  violence  on  the 
part  of  those  in  power  seldom  fails  to  excite  discontent  and 
insurrections  among  the  people.  Domestic  peace  is  main 
tained  by  justice,  which  is  a  fruit  of  government,  as  go'v- 
ernmcnt  is  from  society,  and  society  from  consent. 

He  shows  that  the  object  of  government  is  the  preser 
vation  of  peace  among  its  members.  That  as  by  the  re 
straint  which  government  imposes  upon  the  passions  of 
individuals,  the  prevention  and  redress  of  injuries  are  in 
trusted  to  impartial  hands,  each  individual  receives  the 
protection  of  society,  and  thereby  gains  more  than  he 
loses  by  giving  up  the  privilege  of  being  judge  and  exe 
cutioner  in  his  own  cause. 

He  suggests  the  expediency  of  applying  the  same  prin 
ciples  to  the  disputes  of  nations  which  are  applied  to  those 
of  individuals;  by  forming  a  general  congress  among  the 
princes  of  Europe,  by  which  a  code  of  laws  for  the  regu 
lation  of  their  mutual  intercourse  should  be  established, 
and  to  which  they  should  all  be  required  to  submit. 

He  shows  that  the  usual  causes  of  war  would  be  in  great 
measure  removed  by  the  establishment  of  such  a  tribunal, 
without  the  necessity  of  exercising  its  compulsive  power. 

A  number  of  objections  which  may  be  offered  to  the  plan 
arc  afterwards  stated  and  answered. 

In  the  conclusion  he  shows  that  a  plan,  nearly  analogous 
to  his,  had  been  actually  adopted  to  a  limited  extent  in  some 
33  Z 


386  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

provinces  of  the  Netherlands  ;  and  that  Henry  IV.,  one  of 
the  greatest  monarchs  who  ever  reigned  in  France,  had  it  in 
contemplation  to  compel  the  princes  to  adopt  one  of  a  sim 
ilar  character,  when  he  was  suddenly  cut  off  by  the  hand 
of  an  assassin.  He  adds,  "this  great  king's  example  tells 
us  it  is  fit  to  be  done ;  Sir  William  Temple's  history  shows 
us  by  a  surpassing  instance  that  it  may  be  done ;  and 
Europe,  by  her  incomparable  miseries,  makes  it  now  neces 
sary  to  be  done." 

William'  Penn  had  now  been  about  three  years,  in  great 
measure,  secluded  from  the  world  ami  from  the  public  ser 
vice  of  society.  It  is  probable  that  many  who  were  ac 
quainted  with  the  rumors  of  the  day  gave  credit  to  the 
charges  against  him.  Yet  there  were  a  number  of  men, 
conspicuous  for  their  talents  and  standing  in  the  world, 
who  had  formed  a  more  just  estimate  of  his  character. 
Among  these  was  the  celebrated  John  Locke,  who  had 
returned  to  England  in  the  same  fleet  with  the  Princess 
of  Orange.  Finding  in  what  manner  William  Penn  was 
persecuted,  he  used  his  interest  with  the  king  to  procure 
a  pardon  for  his  supposed  offences.  But  William  Penn 
had  too  much  regard  for  his  own  character,  and  was  too 
confident  that  his  innocence  would  be  eventually  proved, 
to  accept  of  enlargement  upon  conditions  which  implied 
that  he  had  been  guilty  of  an  offence.  Several  noble 
men,  conscious  of  his  worth,  and  fully  convinced  that  the 
charges  against  him  were  unfounded,  interested  them 
selves  in  his  favor.  Three  of  them,  Ranelagh,  Rochester, 
and  Sidney,  went  together  and  represented  the  hardship 
of  his  case  to  the  king.  They  stated  that  there  was  noth 
ing  against  him  but  what  was  advanced  by  impostors,  or 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  387 

such  as  had  fled  their  country  ;  or  by  men  who,  when 
pardoned  for  their  crimes,  had  refused  to  verify  their 
charges.  They  had  themselves  long  known  William  Penn, 
some  of  them  not  less  than  thirty  years,  and  had  never 
known  him  do  an  ill  action,  but  many  good  ones  ;  and  that 
it  was  because  he  was  unwilling  to  incur  the  suspicion  of 
leaving  the  country,  in  defiance  of  government,  that  he 
had  continued  in  it.  King  William  told  them  that  Wil 
liam  Penn  was  his  old  acquaintance  as  well  as  theirs,  and 
that  he  might  follow  his  business  as  freely  as  ever,  for  he 
had  nothing  to  say  against  him.  It  however  appears 
probable  that  William  Penn  was  desirous  his  innocence 
should  be  more  openly  acknowledged,  for  we  find  that  he 
appeared  before  the  king  and  council,  where  he  so  success 
fully  pleaded  his  cause  as  to  obtain  a  fall  acquittal. 

Though  the  cloud  which  had  so  long  hung  over  him 
was  now  dissipated,  and  his  innocency  clearly  established, 
yet  another  heavy  trial,  and  one  that  affected  the  tenderest 
sensibilities  of  his  heart,  was  at  hand.  In  about  a  month 
after  his  discharge  his  wife  was  removed  by  death. 

William  Penn  has  himself  left  a  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  this  noble  character  in  "an  account  of  the  blessed  end 
of  my  dear  wife,  Gulielma  Maria  Penn,"  which  closes 
with  these  words : 

"  She  quietly  expired  in  my  arms,  her  head  upon  my 
bosom,  with  a  sensible  and  devout  resignation  of  her  soul 
to  Almighty  God.  I  hope  I  may  say  she  was  a  public 
as  well  as  private  loss ;  for  she  was  not  only  an  excellent 
wife  and  mother,  but  an  entire  and  constant  friend,  of  a 
more  than  common  capacity,  and  greater  modesty  and 
humility;  yet  most  equal,  and  undaunted  in  danger;  re- 


388  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

ligious,  as  well  as  ingenuous,  without  affectation  ;  an  easy 
mistress  and  good  neighbor,  especially  to  the  poor ;  nei 
ther  lavish  nor  penurious ;  but  an  example  of  industry  as 
well  as  of  other  v.rtucs;  therefore,  our  great  loss,  though 
her  own  eternal  gain." 

Soon  after  he  wrote  to  Robert  Turner : 

"IIonsoN,  27th  of  Twelfth  month,  1693. 
"  LOVING  FRIEND  : — My  extreme  great  affliction  for  the 
decease  of  my  dear  wife,  makes  me  unfit  to  write  much, 
whom  the  great  God  took  to  himself  from  the  troubles  of 
this  exercising  world  the  23d  inst.  In  great  peace  and 
sweetness  she  departed,  and  to  her  gain,  but  our  incom 
parable  loss,  being  one  of  ten  thousand — wise,  chaste, 
humble,  plain,  modest,  industrious,  constant,  and  un 
daunted;  but  God  is  God,  and  good,  and  so  I  hope,  tho' 
afflicted,  not  forsaken." 

As  William  Pcnn  had  been  honorably  acquitted  of  those 
charges  which  prevented  his  return  to  America,  it  might 
naturally  be  supposed  that  he  would  immediately  prepare 
for  a  voyage  thither.  But  the  decease  of  his  wife  had  left 
a  charge  upon  him  which  he  could  not  neglect.  She  left 
two  sons  and  one  daughter,  whose  education  demanded  a 
father's  care.  His  hea.vy  expenditures  in  Pennsylvania, 
the  very  small  returns  from  that  quarter,  and  the  losses 
sustained  in  Ireland,  in  consequence  of  the  commotions 
there,  had  subjected  him  to  considerable  pecuniary  diffi- 
'culty.  Moreover,  the  events  which  had  occurred  in  rela 
tion  to  the  government  of  Pennsylvania,  as  will  be  related 
hereafter,  left  a  task  to  be  accomplished  at  home. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  389 


XXI. 

IN  the  year  1694  William  Perm  wrote  a  preface  to  the 
Journal  of  George  Fox,  who  died,  as  already  mentioned, 
in  1G90.  The  preface  is  a  treatise  of  itself,  and  has  been 
frequently  published  separately  from  the  work  to  which  it 
was  originally  prefixed,  under  the  title  of  "  THE  RISE  AND 
PROGRESS  OF  THE  PEOPLE  CALLED  QUAKERS."  A  consider 
able  part  of  it  is  subjoined. 

Divers  have  been  the  dispensations  of  God  since  the 
creation  of  the  world  unto  the  sons  of  men ;  but  the  great 
end  of  all  of  them  has  been  the  renown  of  his  own  excel 
lent  name  in  the  creation  and  restoration  of  man — man, 
the  emblem  of  Himself,  as  a  god  on  earth  and  the  glory 
of  all  his  works.  The  world  began  with  innocency.  All 
was  then  good  that  the  good  God  had  made ;  and  as  lie 
blessed  the  works  of  his  hands,  so  their  natures  and  har 
mony  magnified  Him  their  Creator.  Then  the  morning 
stars  sang  together  for  joy,  and  all  parts  of  his  works 
said  Amen  to  his  law ;  not  a  jar  in  the  whole  frame ;  but 
man  in  paradise,  the  beasts  in  the  field,  the  fowls  in  the 
air,  the  fish  in  the  sea,  the  lights  in  the  heavens,  the  fruits 
of  the  earth ;  yea,  the  air,  the  earth,  the  water  and  fire 
worshipped,  praised,  and  exalted  his  power,  wisdom,  smd 
goodness.  0  holy  sabbath!  0  holy  day  to  the  Lord! 
33* 


PASSAGES     F  K  O  M     THE     LIFE 

[After  speaking  of  the  fall  of  man,  the  successive  dispen 
sations  of  God,  the  apostasy  from  Christianity,  and  the 
progress  of  the  reformation  to  his  own  time,  he  writes :] 

It  was  about  that  time  that  the  eternal,  wise,  and  good 
God  was  pleased,  in  his  infinite  love,  to  honor  and  visit 
this  benighted  and  bewildered  nation  with  his  glorious 
dayspring  from  on  high ;  yea,  with  a  most  sure  and  cer 
tain  sound  of  the  word  of  light  and  life,  through  the  tes 
timony  of  a  chosen  vessel,  to  an  effectual  and  blessed  pur 
pose  can  many  thousands  say,  Glory  be  to  the  name  of 
the  Lord  forever ! 

For  as  it  reached  the  conscience,  and  broke  the  heart, 
and  brought  many  to  a  sense  and  search,  so  that  which 
people  had  been  vainly  seeking  without,  with  much  pains 
and  cost,  they  by  this  ministry  found  within,  where  it  was 
they  wanted  what  they  sought  for,  viz.,  the  right  way  to 
peace  with  God.  For  they  were  directed  to  the  light  of 
Jesus  Christ  within  them,  as  the  seed  and  leaven  of  the 
kingdom  of  God;  near  all  because  in  all,  and  God's  talent 
to  all,  a  faithful  and  true  witness  and  just  monitor  in  every 
bosom,  the  gift  and  grace  of  God  to  life  and  salvation  that 
appears  to  all,  though  few  regard  it. 

God  owned  his  own  work,  and  this  testimony  did  effect 
ually  reach,  gather,  comfort,  and  establish  the  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  the  hungry  and  thirsty,  the  poor  and  needy, 
the  mournful  and  sick  of  many  maladies,  that  had  spent 
all  upon  physicians  of  no  value,  and  waited  for  relief  from 
heaven,  help  only  from  above,  seeing,  upon  a  serious  trial 
of  all  things,  nothing  else  would  do  but  Christ  himself — 
the  light  of  his  countenance,  a  touch  of  his  garment  and 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  391 

help  from  his  hand,  who  cured  the  poor  woman's  issue, 
raised  the  centurion's  servant,  the  widow's  son,  the  ruler's 
daughter,  and  Peter's  mother.  And  like  i.^r  they  no  sooner 
felt  his  power  and  efficacy  upon  their  souls,  but  they  gave 
up  to  obey  Him,  in  a  testimony  to  his  power,  and  with 
resigned  wills  and  faithful  hearts,  through  all  mockings, 
contradictions,  beatings,  prisons,  and  many  other  jeopard 
ies  that  attended  them,  for  his  blessed  name's  sake. 

And  as  their  testimony  was  to  the  principle  of  God  in 
man,  the  precious  pearl  and  leaven  of  the  kingdom,  as  the 
only  blessed  means  appointed  of  God  to  quicken,  convince, 
and  sanctify  man,  so  they  opened  to  them  what  it  was  in 
itself,  and  what  it  w?s  given  to  them  for,  how  they  might 
know  it  from  their  own  spirit,  and  that  of  the  subtle  ap 
pearance  of  the  evil  one ;  and  what  it  would  do  for  all 
those  whose  minds  are  turned  off  from  the  vanity  of  the 
world  and  its  lifeless  ways  and  teachers,  and  adhere  to 
this  blessed  light  in  themselves,  which  discovers  and  con 
demns  sin  in  all  its  appearances,  and  shows  how  to  over 
come  it,  if  minded  and  obeyed  in  its  holy  manifestations 
and  convictions  ;  giving  power  to  such  to  avoid  and  resist 
those  things  that  do  not  please  God  ;  and  to  grow  strong 
in  love,  faith,  and  good  works,  that  so  man,  whom  sin  hath 
made  as  a  wilderness  overrun  with  briars  and  thorns,  might 
become  as  the  garden  of  God,  cultivated  by  his  divine 
power,  and  replenished  with  the  most  virtuous  and  beau 
tiful  plants  of  God's  own  right-hand  planting,  to  his  eter 
nal  praise. 

But  these  experimental  preachers  of  glad  tidings  of 
God's  truth  and  kingdom  could  not  run  when  they  list, 
or  pray  or  preach  when  they  pleased,  but  as  Christ  their 


392  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

Redeem  nr  prepated  and  moved  them  by  his  own  blessed 
Spirit,  for  which  they  waited  in  their  services  and  meet 
ings,  and  spoke  as  that  gave  them  utterance.  They  werd 
diligent  to  plant  and  to  water,  and  the  Lord  blessed  their 
labors  with  an  exceeding  great  increase,  notwithstanding 
all  the  opposition  made  to  their  blessed  progress  by  false 
rumors,  calumnies,  and  bitter  persecutions. 

Two  things  are  to  be  considered,  the  doctrine  they 
taught  and  the  example  they  led  among  all  people.  I 
have  already  touched  upon  their  fundamental  principle, 
which  is  as  the  corner-stone  of  their  fabric  ;  and,  indeed, 
to  speak  eminently  and  properly,  their  characteristic  or 
main  distinguishing  point  or  principle,  viz.,  the  light  of 
Christ  within  as  God's  gift  for  man's  salvation.  This,  I 
say,  is  as  the  root  of  the  goodly  tree  of  doctrines  that 
grew  and  branched  out  from  it,  which  I  shall  now  men 
tion  in  their  natural  and  experimental  order. 

First,  repentance  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living 
God,  which  comprehends  three  operations :  first,  a  siirht 
of  sin  ;  secondly,  a  sense  and  godly  sorrow  for  it;  thirdly, 
an  amendment  for  the  time  to  come.  This  wns  the  repent 
ance  they  preached  and  pressed,  and  a  natural  result  from 
the  principle  they  turned  all  people  unto.  For  of  light 
came  sight,  and  of  sight  came  sense  and  sorrow,  and  of 
sense  and  sorrow  came  amendment  of  life  ;  which  doc 
trine  of  repentance  leads  to  justification,  that  is,  forgive 
ness  of  the  sins  that  are  past,  through  Christ  the  alone 
propitiation ;  and  to  the  sanctification  or  purgation  of  tin 
soul  from  the  defiling  nature  and  habits  of  sin  present,  by 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  the  soul,  which  is  justification  in 
the  complete  sense  of  that  word,  comprehending  both  jus- 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  393 

tificalion  from  the  guilt  of  the  sins  that  are  past  (as  if 
they  had  never  been  committed),  through  the  love  and 
mercy  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  creature's  being 
made  inwardly  just  through  the  cleansing  and  sanctifying 
power  and  Spirit  of  Christ  revealed  in  the  soul,  which  is 
commonly  called  sanctification.  But  that  none  can  come 
to  know  Christ  to  be  their  sacrifice  that  reject  Him  as  their 
sanctifier,  the  end  of  his  coming  being  to  save  his  people 
from  the  nature  and  defilement,  as  well  as  guilt  of  sin ; 
and  that,  therefore,  those  that  resist  his  light  and  Spirit 
make  his  coming  and  offering  of  none  effect  to  them. 

From  hence  sprang  a  second  doctrine  they  were  led  to 
declare,  as  the  mark  of  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  to  all 
true  Christians,  viz.,  perfection  from  sin,  according  to  the 
Scriptures  of  Truth  ;  which  testify  it  to  be  the  end  of 
Christ's  coming,  and  the  nature  of  his  kingdom,  and  for 
which  his  Spirit  was  and  is  given,  viz.,  to  be  perfect  as 
our  heavenly  Father  is  perfect,  and  holy,  because  God  is 
holy.  And  this  the  apostles  labored  for,  that  the  Chris 
tians  should  be  sanctified  throughout  in  body,  soul,  and 
spirit ;  but  they  never  held  a  perfection  in  wisdom  and 
glory  in  this  life,  or  from  natural  infirmities,  or  death,  as 
some  have,  with  a  weak  or  ill  mind,  imagined  and  insinu 
ated  against  them. 

This  they  called  a  redeemed  state,  regeneration,  or  the 
new  birth  ;  teaching  everywhere  according  to  their  foun 
dation,  that  without  this  work  were  known,  there  was  no 
inheriting  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Thirdly,  this  leads  to  an  acknowledgment  of  eternal 
rewards  and  punishments,  as  they  have  good  reason ;  for 
else,  of  all  people,  certainly  they  must  be  the  most  miser- 


394  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

able,  who,  for  above   forty  years,  have  been  exceeding 
great  sufferers  for  their  profession. 

Besides  these  general  doctrines,  as  the  larger  branches, 
there  sprang  forth  several  particular  doctrines,  that  did 
exemplify  and  farther  explain  the  truth  and  efficacy  ol 
the  general  doctrine  before  observed,  in  their  lives  and 
examples;  as,  Communion  and  loving  one  another.  To 
love  enemies.  The  sufficiency  of  truth-speaking,,  accord 
ing  to  Christ's  own  form  of  sound  words,  of  yea,  yea, 
and  nay,  nay,  among  Christians,  without  swearing.  Not 
fighting,  but  suffering,  because  all  wars  and  fightings 
come  of  men's  own  hearts'  lusts,  and  not  of  the  meek 
Spirit  of  Christ  Jesus.  Refusing  to  pay  tithes  or  main 
tenance  to  a  national  ministry ;  believing  all  compelled 
maintenance  to  be  unlawful.  Not  to  respect  persons ; 
affirming  it  to  be  sinful  to  give  nattering  titles,  or  to  use 
vain  gestures  and  compliments  of  respect.  They  used 
the  plain  language  of  thee  and  thou  to  a  single  person, 
whatever  was  his  degree  among  men.  They  recommended 
silence  by  their  example.  They  were  at  a  word  in  deal 
ing  ;  and,  when  in  company,  they  would  neither  use,  nor 
willingly  hear  unnecessary  or  unlawful  discourses  ;  where 
by  they  preserved  their  minds  pure  and  undisturbed  from 
unprofitable  thoughts  and  diversions.  For  the  same 
reason  they  forebore  drinking  to  people,  or  pledging  of 
them,  as  the  manner  of  the  world  is.  They  say  that 
marriage  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  and  that  God  only  can 
rightly  join  man  and  woman  in  marriage  ;  therefore  they 
use  neither  priest  nor  magistrate ;  but  the  man  and  wo 
man  concerned  take  each  other  as  husband  and  wife,  in 
the  presence  of  divers  credible  witnesses,  promising  to 


OF    WILLIAM     PENX.  395 

each  other,  wilh  God's  assistance,  to  be  loving  and  faith 
ful  in  that  relation,  till  death  shall  separate  them  ;  their 
care  and  checks  being  so  many,  and  such,  as  that  no  clan 
destine  marriages  can  be  performed  among  them.  Their 
burials  are  performed  with  simplicity  ;  the  corpse  being  in 
a  plain  coffin ;  at  the  ground,  they  pause  some  time  before 
they  put  the  body  into  its  grave,  that  if  any  there  should 
have  anything  upon  them  to  exhort  the  people,  they  may 
not  be  disappointed,  and  that  the  relations  may  the  more 
retiredly  and  solemnly  take  their  last  leave  of  the  body 
of  their  departed  kindred,  and  the  spectators  have  a  sense 
of  mortality.  Otherwise,  they  have  no  set  rites  or  cere 
monies  on  these  occasions:  neither  do  the  kindred  of  the 
deceased  ever  wear  mourning,  deeming  that  what  mourn 
ing  is  fit  for  a  Christian  to  have  at  the  departure  of  a 
beloved  relation  or  friend,  should  be  worn  in  the  mind, 
and  the  love  they  had  to  them  and  remembrance  of  them 
be  outwardly  expressed  by  a  respect  to  their  advice  and 
care  of  those  they  have  left  behind  them  and  their  love  of 
that  they  loved. 

These  and  such  like  practices  of  theirs  were  not  the 
result  of  humor,  but  a  fruit  of  inward  sense,  which  God, 
through  his  holy  fear,  had  begotten  in  them.  They  did 
not  consider  how  to  contradict  the  world,  or  distinguish 
themselves  as  a  party  from  others.  But  God  having 
given  them  a  sight  of  themselves,  they  saw  the  whole 
world  in  the  same  glass  of  Truth,  and  sensibly  discerned 
the  affections  and  passions  of  men,  and  the  rise  and  ten 
dency  of  things;  what  it  was  that  gratified  the  "lust  of 
the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life,  which 
are  not  of  the  Father,  but  of  the  world." 


396  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

They  were  changed  men  themselves  before  they  went 
about  to  change  others.  Their  hearts  were  rent  as  well 
as  their  garments ;  and  they  knew  the  power  and  work 
of  God  upon  them. 

They  went  not  forth,  or  preached  in  their  own  time  or 
will,  but  in  the  will  of  God  ;  and  spoke  not  their  own 
studied  matter,  but  as  they  were  opened  and  moved  of 
his  Spirit.  And  as  they  freely  received  what  they  had  to 
say  from  the  Lord,  so  they  freely  administered  it  to  others. 

The  bent  and  stress  of  their  ministry  was  conversion  to 
God ;  regeneration  and  holiness.  Not  schemes  of  doc 
trines  and  verbal  creeds,  or  new  forms  of  worship;  but  a 
leaving  off,  in  religion,  the  superfluous,  and  reducing  the 
ceremonious  and  formal  part,  and  pressing  earnestly  the 
substantial,  the  necessary  and  profitable  part  to  the  soul. 

They  directed  people  to  a  principle  in  themselves,  though 
not  of  themselves,  by  which  all  that  they  asserted,  preached, 
and  exhorted  others  to,  might  be  wrought  in  them,  and 
known  to  them,  through  experience,  to  be  true  ;  which  is  an 
high  and.distinguisMng  mark  of  the  truth  of  their  ministry, 
both  that  they  knew  what  they  said,  and  were  not  afraid 
of  coming  to  the  test.  For  as  they  were  bold  from  certainty, 
so  they  required  conformity  upon  no  human  authority, 
but  upon  conviction,  and  the  conviction  of  this  principle, 
which  they  asserted  was  in  them  that  they  preached  unto  ; 
and  unto  that  they  directed  them,  that  they  might  ex 
amine  and  prove  the  reality  of  those  things  which  they 
had  affirmed  of  it,  as  to  its  manifestation  and  work  in  man. 

They  reached  to  the  inward  state  and  condition  of 
people,  which  is  an  evidence  of  the  \irtue  of  their  prin 
ciple,  and  of  their  ministering  from  it,  and  not  from  their 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  397 

own  imaginations,  glosses,  or  comments  upon  Scripture. 
Tbe  very  thoughts  and  purposes  of  the  hearts  of  many 
have  been  so  plainly  detected,  that  they  have,  like  Nathan 
iel,  cried  out  of  this  inward  appearance  of  Christ :  "  Thou 
art  the  Son  of  God,  thou  art  the  King*  of  Israel." 

They  came  forth  low,  and  despised,  and  hated,  as  the 
primitive  Christians  did,  and  not  by  the  help  of  worldly 
wisdom  or  power,  as  former  reformations,  in  part,  have 
done.  But  in  all  things  it  may  be  said,  this  people  were 
brought  forth  in  the  cross;  in  a  contradiction  to  the  ways, 
worships,  fashions,  and  customs  of  this  world;  yea, 
against  wind  and  tide,  that  so  no  flesh  might  glory  before 
God. 

They  could  have  no  design  to  themselves  in  this  work, 
thus  to  expose  themselves  to  scorn  and  abuse ;  to  spend 
and  be  spent ;  leaving  wife  and  children,  house  and  land, 
and  all  that  can  be  accounted  dear  to  men,  wiih  their  lives 
in  their  hands,  being  daily  in  jeopardy,  to  declare  this 
primitive  message,  revived  in  their  spirits  by  the  good 
Spirit  and  power  of  God  :  That  God  is  light,  and  in 
Him  is  no  darkness  at  all;  and  that  He  has  sent  his  Son 
a  light  into  the  world,  to  enlighten  all  men  in  order  to 
salvation ;  and  that  they  that  say  they  have  fellowship 
with  God.  and  are  his  children  and  people,  and  yet  walk 
in  darkness  (viz.,  in  disobedience  to  the  light  in  their 
consciences)  and  after  the  vanity  of  this  world,  they  lie, 
and  do  not  the  truth.  But  that  all  such  as  love  the  light, 
and  bring  their  deeds  to  it,  and  walk  in  the  light,  as  God 
is  light,  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  should  cleanse 
them  from  all  sin. 

This  people  increasing  daily  both  in  town  and  country, 
34 


398  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

nn  holy  care  fell  upon  some  of  the  elders  among  them,  for 
the  benefit  and  service  of  the  church.  And  the  first  busi 
ness  in  their  view,  after  the  example  of  the  primitive  saints, 
was  the  exercise  of  chanty  ;  to  supply  the  necessities  of 
the  poor,  and  answer  the  like  occasions.  They  were  also 
very  careful  that  every  one  that  belonged  to  them  nn- 
swered  their  profession  in  their  behavior  among  men, 
upon  all  occasions ;  that  they  lived  peaceably,  and  were 
in  all  things  good  examples.  In  case  of  marriage,  they 
took  care  that  all  things  were  clear  between  the  parties 
and  all  others. 

But  because  the  charge  of  the  poor,  the  number  of  or 
phans,  marriages,  sufferings,  and  other  matters  multiplied, 
and  that  it  was  good  that  the  churches  were  in  some  way 
and  method  of  proceeding  in  such  affairs  among  them,  it 
pleased  the  Lord,  in  his  wisdom  and  goodness,  to  open  the 
understanding  of  the  first  instrument  of  this  dispensation 
of  life,  about  a  good  and  orderly  way  of  proceeding. 
This  godly  elder,  in  every  country  where  he  travelled,  ex 
horted  them,  that  some  out  of  every  meeting  for  worship 
should  meet  together  once  in  the  month,  to  confer  about 
the  wants  and  occasions  of  the  church.  And  that  these 
Monthly  Meetings  should,  in  each  county,  make  up  one 
Quarterly  Meeting,  where  the  most  zealous  and  eminent 
Friends  of  the  county  should  assemble  to  communicate, 
advise,  and  help  one  another.  Also  that  these  several 
Quarterly  Meetings  should  digest  the  reports  of  their 
Monthly  Meetings,  and  prepare  one  for  each  respective 
county  against  the  Yearly  Meeting,  in  which  all  Quarterly 
Meetings  resolve. 

At  these  meetings  any  of  the  members  of  the  churches 


OF     WILL  [AM     PEXX.  009 

may  come,  if  they  please,  and  speak  their  minds  freely, 
in  the  fear  of  God,  to  any  matter.  These  meetings  are 
opened  and  usually  concluded  in  their  solemn  waiting 
upon  God,  who  is  sometimes  graciously  pleased  to  answer 
them  with  as  signal  evidences  of  his  love  and  presence  as 
in  any  of  their  meetings  of  worship. 

In  these  solemn  assemblies  for  the  churches'  service 
there  is  no  one  presides  among  them  after  the  manner  of 
the  assemblies  of  other  people,  Christ  only  being  their 
president,  as  He  is  pleased  to  appear  in  life  and  wisdom 
in  any  one  or  more  of  them,  to  whom,  whatever  be  their 
capacity  or  degree,  the  rest  adhere  with  a  firm  unity,  not 
of  authority,  but  conviction,  which  is  the  divine  authority 
and  way  of  Christ's  power  and  Spirit  in  his  people,  mak 
ing  good  his  blessed  promise  that  He  would  be  in  the  midst 
of  his  where  and  whenever  they  were  met  together  in  his 
name,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

The  power  they  exercise  upon  members  of  their  society 
is  such  as  Christ  has  given  to  his  own  people  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  in  the  persons  of  his  disciples,  viz.,  to  over 
see,  exhort,  reprove,  and,  after  long  suffering  and  waiting 
upon  the  disobedient  and  refractory,  to  disown  them  as  any 
more  of  their  communion,  or  that  they  will  any  longer 
stand  charged  in  the  sight  and  judgment  of  God  or  men 
with  their  conversation  or  behavior  as  any  of  them,  until 
they  repent.  They  distinguish  between  imposing  any  prac 
tice  that  immediately  regards  faith  or  worship  (which  is 
never  to  be  done,  or  suffered,  or  submitted  unto)  and  re 
quiring  Christian  compliance  with  those  methods  that  only 
respect  church  business  in  its  more  civil  part  and  concern, 
and  that  regard  the  discreet  and  orderly  maintenance  of 


400  PASSAGES    F  R  O  M    T  H  E     L  I  F  E 

the  character  of  the  society  as  a  sober  and  religious  com 
munity.  In.  short,  what  is  for  the  promotion  of  holiness 
and  charity,  that  men  may  practise  what  they  profess,  live 
up  to  their  own  principles,  and  not  be  at  liberty  to  give 
the  lie  to  their  own  profession  without  rebuke,  is  their  use 
and  limit  of  church  power.  They  compel  none  to  join 
them,  but  oblige  those  that  are  of  them  to  walk  suitably, 
or  they  are  denied  by  them ;  that  is  all  the  mark  they  set 
upon  them  and  the  power  they  exercise,  or  judge  a  Chris 
tian  society  can  exercise,  upon  those  that  are  members  of  it. 

This  account  of  the  people  of  God  called  Quakers,  both 
with  respect  to  their  faith  and  worship,  discipline  and  con 
versation,  I  judge  very  proper  in  this  place,  because  it  is 
to  preface  the  journal  of  the  first  blessed  and  glorious  in 
strument  of  this  work.  George  Fox  was  born  in  Leices 
tershire  about  the  year  1G24.  From  a  child  he  appeared 
of  another  frame  of  mind  than  the  rest  of  his  brethren, 
being  more  religious,  inward,  still,  solid,  and  observing 
beyond  his  years,  as  the  answers  he  would  give,  and  the 
questions  he  would  put,  upon  occasion,  manifested,  to  the 
astonishment  of  those  that  heard  him,  especially  in  divine 
things. 

His  mother,  taking  notice  of  his  singular  temper  and 
the  gravity,  wisdom,  and  piety  that  very  early  shined 
through  him,  refusing  childish  and  vain  sports  and  com 
pany  when  very  young,  was  tender  and  indulgent  over 
him,  so  that  from  her  he  met  with  little  difficulty.  As  to 
his  employment,  he  was  brought  up  in  country  business, 
and  as  he  took  most  delight  in  sheep,  so  he  was  very  skil 
ful  in  them,  an  employment  that  very  well  suited  his 


<JK     WILLIAM     PEXN.  401 

mind  in  several  respects,  both  for  its  innocency  and  soli 
tude,  and  was  a  just  emblem  of  his  after  ministry  and 
service. 

When  he  was  somewhat  above  twenty  he  left  his  friends 
and  visited  the  most  retired  and  religious  people  in  those 
parts.  At  this  time  he  taught,  and  was  an  example  of 
silence,  endeavoring  to  bring  them  from  self-performances  ; 
testifying  of,  and  turning  them  to,  the  light  of  Christ  with 
in  them,  and  encouraging  them  to  wait  in  patience,  and  to 
feel  the  power  of  it  to  stir  in  their  hearts,  that  their  knowl 
edge  and  worship  of  God  might  stand  in  the  power  of  an 
endless  life,  which  was  to  be  found  in  the  light,  as  it  was 
obeyed  in  the  manifestation  of  it  in  man. 

In  1G52,  he  being  in  his  usual  retirement,  his  mind  ex 
ercised  towards  the  Lord,  upon  a  very  high  mountain  (in 
some  of  the  hither  parts  of  Yorkshire,  as  I  take  it)  he  had 
a  vision  of  the  great  work  of  God  in  the  earth,  and  of  the 
way  that  he  was  to  go  forth  in  a  public  ministry  to  begin 
it.  He  saw  people  as  thick  as  motes  in  the  sun  that  should 
in  time  be  brought  home  to  the  Lord,  that  there  might  be 
but  one  shepherd  and  one  sheepfold  in  all  the  earth.  There 
his  eye  was  directed  northward,  beholding  a  great  people 
that  should  receive  him  and  his  message  in  those  parts. 
Upon  this  mountain  he'  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  sound 
out  his  great  and  notable  day,  as  if  he  had  been  in  a  great 
auditory,  and  from  thence  went  north  as  the  Lord  had 
phown  him.  And  in  every  place  where  he  came,  if  not 
before  he  came  to  it,  he  had  his  particular  exercise  and 
service  shown  to  him,  so  that  the  Lord  was  his  leader 
indeed.  For  it  was  not  in  vain  that  he  travelled,  God  in 
most  places  scaling  his  commission  with  the  convincement 
Si*  2  \ 


402  PASSAGES     F  R  O  M     THE     L  T  F  E 

of  some  of  all  sorts,  as  well  publicans  as  sober  professor? 
of  religion.  Those  that  came  forth  in  a  public  ministry 
were  frequently  drawn  forth,  especially  to  visit  the  public 
assemblies,  to  reprove,  inform,  and  exhort  them,  some 
times  in  markets,  fairs,  streets,  and  by  the  highway  side, 
calling  people  to  repentance  and  to  turn  to  the  Lord  with 
their  hearts  as  well  as  their  mouths,  directing  them  to  the 
light  of  Christ  within  them,  to  see,  examine,  and  consider 
their  ways  by,  and  to  eschew  the  evil  and  do  the  good  and 
acceptable  will  of  God.  And  they  suffered  great  hardships 
for  this  their  love  and  good-will,  being  often  stocked,  stoned, 
beaten,  whipped,  and  imprisoned,  though  honest  men  and 
of  good  report  where  they  lived,  that  had  left  wives,  chil 
dren,  houses,  and  lands  to  visit  them  with  a  living  call  to 
repentance.  And  though  the  priests  generally  set  them 
selves  to  oppose  them,  and  write  against  them,  and  insin 
uated  most  false  and  scandalous  stories  to  defame  them, 
stirring  up  the  magistrates  to  suppress  them,  especially  in 
those  northern  parts,  yet  God  was  pleased  so  to  fill  them 
with  his  living  power,  and  give  them  such  an  open  door 
of  utterance  in  his  service,  that  there  was  a  mighty  con- 
vincement  over  those  parts. 

But  lest  this  may  be  thought  a  digression,  I  return  to 
this  excellent  man,  and  for  his  personal  qualities,  both 
natural,  moral,  and  divine,  as  they  appeared  in  his  con 
verse  with  the  brethren,  and  in  the  church  of  God,  take 
as  follows : 

He  was  a  man  that  God  endued  with  a  clear  and  won 
derful  depth  ;  a  discerner  of  others'  spirits  and  very  much 
a  master  of  his  own.  And  though  that  side  of  his  under 
standing  which  lay  next  to  the  world,  and  especially  the 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  403 

expression  of  it,  might  sound  uncouth  and  unfashionable 
to  nice  ears,  his  matter  was  nevertheless  very  profound, 
and  would  not  only  bear  to  be  often  considered,  but  the 
more  it  was  so  the  more  weighty  and  instructing  it  ap 
peared.  And  as  abruptly  and  brokenly  as  sometimes  his 
sentences  would  seem  to  fall  from  him  about  divine  things, 
it  is  well  known  they  were  often  as  texts  to  many  fairer 
declarations.  And,  indeed,  it  showed  beyond  all  contra 
diction  that  God  sent  him,  in  that  no  art  or  parts  had  any 
share  in  the  matter  or  manner  of  his  ministry  ;  and  that 
so  many  great,  excellent,  and  necessary  truths  as  he  came 
forth  to  preach  to  mankind  had  therefore  nothing  of  man's 
wit  or  wisdom  to  recommend  them.  So  that  as  to  man 
he  was  an  original,  being  no  man's  copy.  And  his  min 
istry  and  writings  show  they  are  from  one  that  was  not 
tauirht  of  man,  nor  had  learned  what  he  said  by  study. 
Xor  were  they  notional  or  speculative,  but  sensible  and 
practical  truths,  tending  to  conversion  and  regeneration 
and  the  setting  up  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  hearts 
of  men.  And  the  way  of  it  was  his  work.  So  that  T 
have  many  times  been  overcome  in  myself,  and  been  made 
to  say  with  my  Lord  and  Master  upon  the  like  occasion, 
"  I  thank  thce,  0  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  that 
thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent  of 
this  world  and  revealed  them  to  babes."  For  many  times 
hath  my  soul  bowed  in  an  humble  thankfulness  to  the  Lord 
that  lie  did  not  choose  any  of  the  wise  and  learned  of  this 
world  to  be  the  first  messenger  in  our  age  of  his  blessed 
truth  to  men  ;  but  that  lie  took  one  that  was  not  of  high 
degree,  or  elegant  speech,  or  learned  after  the  way  of  this 
world,  that  his  message  and  work  He  sent  him  to  do  might 


4.04  P  A  S  SAGES     F  R  ()  M     T  1 1  E     I,  I  F  F 

conic  with  less  suspicion  or  jealousy  of  human  wisdom 
and  interest,  and  with  more  force  and  clearness  upon  the 
consciences  of  those  that  sincerely  sought  the  wny  of 
truth  in  the  love  of  it.  I  say,  beholding  with  the  eye 
of  my  mind,  which  the  God  of  heaven  had  opened  in  me, 
the  marks  of  God's  finger  and  hand  visibly  in  this  testi 
mony,  from  the  clearness  of  the  principle,  the  power  and 
efficacy  of  it,  in  the  exemplary  sobriety,  plainness,  zeal, 
steadiness,  humility,  gravity,  punctuality,  charity,  and 
circumspect  care  in  the  government  of  church  affairs  which 
shincd  in  his  rnd  their  life  and  testimony  that  God  em 
ployed  in  this  work,  it  greatly  confirmed  me  that  it  was 
of  God,  and  engaged  my  soul  in  a  deep  love,  fear,  rever 
ence,  and  thankfulness  for  his  love  arid  mercy  therein  to 
mankind ;  in  which  mind  I  remain,  and  shall,  I  hope, 
through  the  Lord's  strength,  to  the  end  of  my  days. 

In  his  testimony  or  ministry  he  much  labored  to  open 
Truth  to  the  people's  understandings,  and  to  bottom  them 
upon  the  principle  and  principal,  Christ  Jesus,  the  light 
of  the  world,  that  by  bringing  them  to  something  that 
was  from  God  in  themselves,  th'cy  might  the  better  know 
and  judge  of  Him  and  themselves. 

He  had  an  extraordinary  gift  in  opening  the  Scriptures. 
He  would  go  to  the  marrow  of  things,  and  show  the  rnind, 
harmony,  and  fulfilling  of  them  with  much  plainness,  and 
to  great  comfort  and  edification. 

The  mystery  of  the  first  and  second  Adam,  of  the  fall 
and  restoration,  of  the  law  and  gospel,  of  shadows  and 
substance,  of  the  servant's  and  son's  state,  and  the  fulfill 
ing  of  the  Scriptures  in  Christ,  and  by  Christ,  the  true 
light,  in  all  that  arc  his  through  the  obedience  of  faith, 


OF     WILLIAM    PEXN.  405 

were  much  of  the  substance  and  drift  of  his  testimonies. 
In  all  which  he  was  witnessed  to  be  of  God,  being  sensibly 
felt  to  speak  that  which  he  had  received  of  Christ,  and  was 
his  own  experience  in  that  which  never  errs  nor  fails. 

But  above  all  he  excelled  in  prayer.  The  inwardness 
and  weight  of  his  spirit,  the  reverence  and  solemnity  of 
his  address  and  behavior,  and  the  fewness  and  fulness  of 
his  words,  have  often  struck  even  strangers  with  admira 
tion,  as  they  used  to  reach  others  with  consolation.  The 
most  awful,  living,  reverent  frame  I  ever  felt  or  beheld, 
I  must  say,  was  his  in  prayer.  And  truly  it  was  a  testi 
mony  he  knew  and  lived  nearer  to  the  Lord  than  other 
men ;  for  they  that  know  him  most,  will  see  most  reason 
to  approach  him  with  reverence  and  fear. 

He  was  of  an  innocent  life,  no  busybody,  nor  self-seeker  ; 
neither  touchy  nor  critical.  What  fell  from  him  was  very 
inoffensive,  if  not  very  edifying.  So  meek,  contented, 
modest,  easy,  steady,  tender,  it  was  a  pleasure  to  be  in 
his  company.  He  exercised  no  authority  but  over  evil, 
and  that  everywhere,  and  in  all ;  but  with  love,  com 
passion,  and  long  suffering.  A  most  merciful  man,  as 
ready  to  forgive  as  unapt  to  take  or  give  an  offence. 
Thousands  can  truly  say  he  was  of  an  excellent  spirit  and 
savor  among  them ;  and  because  thereof,  the  most  ex 
cellent  spirits  loved  him  with  an  unfeigned  and  unfading 
love. 

He  was  an  incessant  laborer ;  as  he  was  unwearied,  so 
he  was  undaunted  in  his  services  for  God  and  his  people. 
He  was  no  more  to  be  moved  to  fear  than  to  wrath. 

This  man  of  God  had  his  share  of  suffering  from  some 
that  were  convinced  by  him.  who,  through  prejudice  or 


406  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

mistake,  ran  against  him,  as  one  that  sought  dominion 
over  conscience,  because  he  pressed,  by  his  presence  or 
epistles,  a  ready  and  zealous  compliance  with  such  good  and 
wholesome  things  as  tended  to  an  orderly  conversation 
about  the  affairs  of  the  church,  and  in  their  walking  be 
fore  men.  Though  there  was  no  person  the  discontented 
struck  so  sharply  at,  as  this  good  man,  he  bore  all  their 
weakness  and  prejudice,  and  returned  not  reflection  for  re 
flection  ;  but  forgave  them  their  weak  and  bitter  speeches, 
praying  for  them,  that  they  might  have  a  sense  of  their 
hurt,  and  see  the  subtilty  of  the  enemy  to  rend  and  divide, 
and  return  into  their  first  love  that  thought  no  ill. 

And  truly  I  must  sa}r,  that  though  God  had  visibly 
clothed  him  with  a  divine  preference  and  authority, — and 
iiidecd  his  very  presence  expressed  a- religious  majesty, — 
yet  he  never  abused  it ;  but  held  his  place  in  the  church 
of  God  with  great  meekness,  and  a  most  engaging  humility 
and  moderation.  For,  upon  all  occasions,  like  his  blessed 
Master,  he  was  a  servant  to  all;  holding  and  exercising 
his  eldership  in  the  invisible  power  that  had  gathered 
them,  with  reverence  to  the  head  and  care  over  the  body ; 
and  was  received,  only  in  that  spirit  and  power  of  Christ, 
as  the  first  and  chief  elder  in  this  age ;  who,  as  he  was 
therefore  worthy  of  double  honor,  so  for  the  same  reason 
it  was  given  by  the  faithful  of  this  day,  because  his 
authority  was  inward  and  not  outward,  and  that  he  got 
it  and  kept  it  by  the  love  of  God,  and  powTer  of  an  end 
less  life.  I  write  my  knowledge,  and  not  report,  and  my 
witness  is  true ;  having  been  with  him  for  weeks  and 
months  together  on  divers  occasions,  and  those  of  the 
nearest  and  most  exercising  nature ;  and  that  by  night 

~  J  o 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  407 

and  by  clay,  by  sea  and  by  land ;  in  this  and  in  foreign 
countries ;  and  I  can  say,  I  never  saw  him  out  of  his 
place,  or  not  a  match  for  every  service  or  occasion. 

For  in  all  things  he  acquitted  himself  like  a  man,  yea, 
a  strong  man,  a  new  and  heavenly-minded  man,  a  divine 
and  a  naturalist,  and  all  of  God  Almighty's  making.  I 
have  been  surprised  at  his  questions  and  answers  in 
natural  things ;  that  whilst  he  was  ignorant  of  useless 
and  sophistical  science,  he  had  in  him  the  grounds  of  use 
ful  and  commendable  knowledge,  and  cherished  it  every 
where  ;  civil  beyond  all  forms  of  breeding  in  his  behavior  ; 
very  temperate,  eating  little,  and  sleeping  less,  though  a 
bulky  person. 

Thus  he  lived  arid  sojourned  among  us.  And  as  he 
lived,  so  he  died ;  feeling  the  same  eternal  power  that  had 
raised  and  preserved  him,  in  his  last  moments.  So  full 
of  assurance  was  he,  that  he  triumphed  over  death  ;  and 
so  even  in  his  spirit  to  the  last,  as  if  death  were  hardly 
worth  notice  or  a  mention  ;  recommending  to  some  of  us 
with  him  the  despatch  and  dispersion  of  an  epistle  just 
before  given  forth  by  him  to  the  churches  of  Christ 
throughout  the  world,  and  his  own  books ;  but  above  all, 
Friends,  and  of  all  Friends,  those  in  Ireland  and  America; 
twice  over  saying,  Mind  poor  Friends  in  Ireland  and 
America. 

And  to  some  that  came  in  and  inquired  how  he  found 
himself,  he  answered,  "  Never  heed,  the  Lord's  power  is 
over  all  weakness  and  death ;  the  seed  reigns,  blessed  be 
the  Lord;  "  which  was  about  four  or  five  hours  before  his 
departure  out  of  this  world.  He  was  at  the  great  meeting 
near  Lombard  Street,  on  the  First  day  of  the  week,  and  it 


408  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

was  the  third  following,  about  ten  at  night,  when  he  loft 
us. 

In  a  good  old  age  he  went,  after  having  lived  to  see  his 
children's  children  in  the  truth  to  many  generations.  Ho 
had  the  comfort  of  a  short  illness,  and  the  blessing  of  a 
clear  sense  to  the  last ;  and  we  may  truly  say,  with  a  man 
of  God  of  old,  that  being  dead,  he  yet  speaketh  ;  and 
though  now  absent  in  body,  he  is  present  in  spirit : 
neither  time  nor  place  being  able  to  interrupt  the  com 
munion  of  saints,  or  dissolve  the  fellowship  of  the  spirits 
of  the  just.  His  works  praise  him,  because  they  are  to 
the  praise  of  Him  that  wrought  by  him  ;  for  which  his 
memorial  is  and  shall  be  blessed.  I  have  done,  as  to  this 
part  of  my  subject,  when  I  have  left  this  short  epitaph  to 
his  name  :  "  Many  sons  have  clone  virtuously  in  this  day  ; 
but,  dear  George,  thou  excellest  them  all." 

And  now,  Friends,  you  that  profess  to  w\alk  in  the  way 
that  this  blessed  man  was  sent  of  God  to  turn  us  into, 
suffer,  I  beseech  you,  the  word  of  exhortation,  as  well 
fathers  as  children,  and  elders  as  young  men.  The  glory 
of  this  day,  and  foundation  of  the  hope  that  has  not  rnnde 
us  ashamed  since  we  were  a  people,  you  know,  is  that 
blessed  principle  of  light  and  life  of  Christ  which  we  pro 
fess,  and  direct  all  people  to,  as  the  great  and  divine  in 
strument  and  agent  of  man's  conversion  to  God.  It  was 
by  this  that  we  were  first  touched  and  effectually  en 
lightened,  as  to  our  inward  state ;  which  put  us  upon  the 
consideration  of  our  latter  end ;  causing  us  to  set  the 
Lord  before  our  eyes,  and  to  number  our  days,  that  we 
might  apply  our  hearts  to  wisdom.  In  that  dav  we 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXX.  409 

judged  not  after  the  sight  of  the  eye,  or  after  the  hear 
ing  of  the  ear ;  but  according  to  the  light  and  sense  this 
blessed  principle  gave  us,  so  we  judged  and  acted  in  ref 
erence  to  things  and  persons,  ourselves  and  others ;  yea, 
towards  God  our  Maker.  For,  being  quickened  by  it  in 
our  inward  man,  we  could  easily  discern  the  difference  of 
things,  and  feel  what  was  right,  and  what  was  wrong, 
and  what  was  fit,  and  what  not,  both  in  reference  to  re 
ligious  and  civil  concerns.  That  being  the  ground  of  the 
fellowship  of  all  saints,  it  was  in  that  our  fellowship  stood. 
In  this  we  desired  to  have  a  sense  of  one  another,  acted 
towards  one  another  and  all  men,  in  love,  faithfulness, 
and  fear. 

In  feeling  of  the  stirrings  and  motions  of  this  principle 
in  our  hearts,  we  drew  near  to  the  Lord,  and  waited  to 
be  prepared  by  it,  that  we  might  feel  drawings  and  mov- 
ings  before  we  approached  the  Lord  in  prayer,  or  opened 
our  mouths  in  ministry.  And  in  our  beginning  and  end 
ing  with  this,  stood  our  comfort,  service,  and  edification. 
And  as  we  ran  faster  or  fell  short  in  our  services,  we 
made  burdens  for  ourselves  to  bear ;  finding  in  ourselves 
a  rebuke  instead  of  an  acceptance ;  and  in  lieu  of  well- 
done,  who  has  required  this  at  your  hands  ?  In  that  day 
we  were  an  exercised  people — our  very  countenances  and 
deportment  declared  it. 

Care  for  others  was  then  much  upon  us,  as  well  as  for 
ourselves  ;  especially  of  the  young  convinced.  Often  had 
we  the  burthen  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  our  neighbors, 
relations,  and  acquaintance,  and  sometimes  strangers  also 
We  were  in  travail  likewise  for  one  another's  preserva 
tion  ;  not  seeking,  but  shunning  occasions  of  any  coldness 


410  PASSAGES     FilOM     THE     LIFE 

or  misunderstanding ;  treating  one  another  as  those  that 
believed  and  felt  God  present ;  which  kept  our  conversa 
tion  innocent,  serious,  and  weighty  ;  guarding  ourselves 
against  the  cares  and  friendships  of  the  world. 

We  held  the  Truth  in  the  spirit  of  it,  and  not  in  our 
own  spirits,  or  after  our  own  will  and  affections ;  they 
were  bowed  and  brought  into  subjection,  insomuch  that  it 
was  visible  to  them  that  knew  us.  We  did  not  think 
ourselves  at  our  own  disposal,  to  go  where  we  list,  or  say 
or  do  what  we  list  or  when  we  list,  Our  liberty  stood  in 
the  liberty  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth ;  and  no  pleasure,  no 
profit,  no  fear,  no  favor  could  draw  us  from  this  retired, 
strict,  and  watchful  frame.  We  were  so  far, from  seeking 
occasions  of  company,  that  we  avoided  them  what  we 
could ;  pursuing  our  own  business  with  moderation,  in 
stead  of  meddling  with  other  peoples'  unnecessarily. 

Our  words  were  few  and  savory,  our  looks  composed 
and  weighty,  and  our  whole  deportment  very  observable. 
True  it  is,  that  this  retired  and  strict  sort  of  life,  from  the 
liberty  of  the  conversation  of  the  world,  exposed  us  to  the 
censures  of  many,  as  humorists,  conceited  and  self-right 
eous  persons,  etc.  But  it  was  our  preservation  from  many 
snares,  to  which  others  were  continually  exposed,  by  the 
prevalency  of  the  lust  of  the  eye,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and 
the  pride  of  life,  that  wanted  no  occasions  or  temptations 
to  excite  them  abroad  in  the  converse  of  the  world. 

I  cannot  forget  the  humility  and  chaste  zeal  of  that  clay. 
Oh,  how  constant  at  meetings,  how  retired  in  them,  how 
firm  to  Truth's  life  as  well  as  Truth's  principles !  And 
how  entire  and  united  in  our  communion,  as  indeed  be- 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  411 

came  those  that  profess  one  Head,  even  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lord. 

And  now  as  to  you,  my  beloved  and  much  honored 
brethren  in  Christ,  that  are  in  the  exercise  of  the  ministry  : 
Oh,  feel  life  in  your  ministry — let  life  be  your  commission, 
your  wellspring  and  treasury  on  all  such  occasions,  else 
you  well  know,  there  can  be  no  begetting  to  God,  since 
nothing  can  quicken  or  make  people  alive  to  God  but  the 
life  of  God;  and  it  must  be  a  ministry  in  and  from  life 
that  enlivens  any  people  to  God.  It  is  not  our  parts,  or 
memory,  or  the  repetition  of  former  openings,  in  our  own 
will  and  time,  that  will  do  God's  work.  A  dry  doctrinal 
ministry,  however  sound  in  words,  can  reach  but  the  ear, 
and  is  but  a  dream  at  the  best.  There  is  another  sound 
ness,  that  is  soundest  of  all,  viz.,  Christ  the  power  of  God. 
This  is  the  key  of  David,  that  opens  and  none  shuts,  and 
shuts  and  none  can  open.  As  the  oil  to  the  lamp,  and  the 
soul  to  the  body,  so  is  that  to  the  best  of  words,  which 
made  Christ  to  say,  "  My  words,  they  are  spirit,  and  they 
arc  life,"  that  is,  they  arc  from  life,  and  therefore  they 
make  you  alive  that  receive  them.  If  the  disciples,  that 
had  lived  with  Jesus,  were  to  stay  at  Jerusalem  till  they 
received  it.  much  more  must  we  wait  to  receive  before  we 
minister,  if  we  will  turn  people  from  darkness  to  light,  and 
from  Satan's  power  to  God. 

I  fervently  bow  my  knees  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  may  always  be  like-minded ; 
that  you  may  ever  wait  reverently  for  the  coming  and 
opening  of  the  Word  of  Life,  and  attend  upon  it  in  your 
ministry  and  service ;  that  you  may  serve  God  in  his 
Spirit.  And  be  it  little  or  be  it  much,  it  is  well ;  for 


412  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

much  is  not  too  much,  and  the  least  is  enough,  if  from  the 
motion  of  God's  Spirit ;  and  without  it,  verily,  never  so 
little  is  too  much,  because  to  no  profit. 

For  it  is  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  immediately,  or  through 
the  ministry  of  his  servants,  that  tcachcth  his  people  to 
profit;  and  to  be  sure,  so  far  as  we  take  Him  along-  with 
us  in  our  services,  so  far  we  are  profitable  and  no  farther. 
For  if  it  be  the  Lord  that  must  work  all  things  in  UB  for 
our  salvation,  much  more  is  it  the  Lord  that  must  work  in 
us  for  the  conversion  of  others.  If,  therefore,  it  was  once 
a  cross  to  us  to  speak,  though  the  Lord  required  it  at  our 
hands,  let  it  never  be  so  to  be  silent  when  He  docs  not. 

Wherefore,  brethren,  let  us  be  careful  neither  to  outgo 
our  Guide,  nor  yet  loiter  behind  Him,  since  he  that  makes 
haste  may  miss  his  way,  and  he  that  stays  behind  lose  his 
guide.  For  even  those  that  have  received  the  word  of 
the  Lord  had  need  wait  for  wisdom,  that  they  may  see 
how  to  divide  the  word  aright,  which  plainly  implicth 
that  it  is  possible  for  one  that  hath  received  the  word  of 
the  Lord  to  miss  in  the  dividing  and  application  of  it, 
which  must  come  from  an  impatience  of  spirit,  and  a  self- 
working,  which  makes  an  unsound  and  dangerous  mix 
ture,  and  will  hardly  beget  a  right-minded  living  people 
to  God. 

And  wherever  it  is  observed  that  any  do  minister  more 
from  gifts  and  parts  than  life  and  power,  though  they 
have  an  enlightened  and  doctrinal  understanding,  let  them 
in  time  be  advised  and  admonished  for  their  preservation, 
because  insensibly  such  will  come  to  depend  upon  a  self- 
sufficiency  ;  to  forsake  Christ,  the  living  fountain,  and  hew 
out  unto  themselves  cisterns  that  will  hold  no  living 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXN.  413 

waters ;  and  by  degrees  such  will  corne  to  draw  others 
from  waiting  upon  the  gift  of  God  in  themselves,  and  to 
feel  it  in  others,  in  order  to  their  strength  and  refreshment, 
to  wait  upon  them,  and  to  turn  from  God  to  man  again, 
and  so  make  shipwreck  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,  and  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God,  which  are 
only  kept  by  that  divine  gift  of  life  that  begat  the  one 
and  awakened  and  sanctified  the  other  in  the  beginning. 

Nor  is  it  enough  that  we  have  known  the  divine  gift, 
and  in  it  have  reached  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  and  been 
the  instruments  of  the  convincing  of  others  of  the  way  of 
God,  if  we  keep  not  as  low  and  poor  in  ourselves,  and  as 
depending  upon  the  Lord  as  ever,  since  no  memory,  no 
repetitions  of  former  openings,  revelations,  or  enjoyments, 
will  bring  a  soul  to  God,  or  afford  bread  to  the  hungry,  or 
water  to  the  thirsty,  unless  life  go  with  what  we  say,  and 
that  must  be  waited  for. 

Oh,  that  we  may  have  no  other  fountain,  treasure,  or 
dependence.  That  none  may  presume,  at  any  rate,  to  act 
of  themselves  for  God,  because  they  have  long  acted  from 
God ;  that  we  may  not  supply  want  of  waiting  with  our 
own  wisdom,  or  think  that  we  may  take  less  care  and 
more  liberty  in  speaking  than  formerly ;  and  that  where 
we  do  not  feel  the  Lord,  by  his  power,  to  open  us  and 
enlarge  us,  whatever  be  the  expectation  of  the  people,  or 
has  been  our  customary  supply  and  character,  we  may  not 
exceed  or  fill  up  the  time  with  our  own. 

I  cannot. but  cry  and  call  aloud  to  you,  that  have  been 

long  professors  of  the  Truth,  and  know  the  Truth  in  the 

convincing  power  of  it,  and  have  had  a  sober  conversation 

among  men,  yet  content  yourselves  only  to  know  Truth 

35* 


414  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

for  yourselves,  to  go  to  meetings,  and  exercise  an  ordi 
nary  charity  in  the  church,  and  an  honest  behavior  in  the 
world,  and  limit  yourselves  within  these  bounds;  feeling 
little  or  no  concern  upon  your  spirits  for  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  in  the  prosperity  of  his  Truth  in  the  earth,  more 
than  to  be  glad  that  others  succeed  in  such  service.  Arise 
ye  in  the  name  and  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus!  Behold 
how  white  the  fields  are  unto  harvest  in  this  and  other 
nations,  and  how  few  able  and  faithful  laborers  there  are 
to  work  therein !  Your  country-folks,  neighbors,  and 
kindred  want  to  know  the  Lord  and  his  Truth,  and  to 
walk  in  it.  Docs  nothing  lie  at  your  door  upon  their 
account  ?  Search  and  see,  and  lose  no  time,  I  beseech 
you,  for  the  Lord  is  at  hand. 

Ponder  your  ways,  and  see  if  God  has  nothing  more 
for  you  to  do ;  and  if  you  find  yourselves  short  in  your 
account  with  Him,  then  wait  for  his  preparation,  and  be 
ready  to  receive  the  word  of  command,  and  be  not  weary 
of  well-doing,  when  you  have  put  your  hand  to  the 
plough;  and  assuredly  }TOU  shall  reap,  if  you  faint  not, 
the  fruit  of  your  heavenly  labor  in  God's  everlasting 
kingdom. 

And  you,  young  convinced  ones,  be  you  intrcated  and 
exhorted  to  a  diligent  and  chaste  waiting  upon  God,  in 
the  way  of  his  blessed  manifestation  and  appearance  of 
Himself  to  you.  Look  not  out,  but  within ;  let  not 
another's  liberty  be  your  snare ;  neither  act  by  imitation, 
but  sense  and  feeling  of  God's  power  in  yourselves ; 
crush  not  the  tender  buddings  of  it  in  your  souls,  nor 
overrun,  in  your  desires  and  warmness  of  affections,  the 
holy  and  gentle  motions  of  it.  Remember  it  is  a  stiU 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  415 

voice  that  speaks  to  us  in  this  day,  and  that  it  is  not  to  be 
heard  in  the  noises  and  hurries  of  the  mind;  but  it  is 
distinctly  understood  in  a  retired  frame.  Jesus  loved  and 
chose  solitudes ;  often  going  to  mountains,  gardens,  and 
seasides,  to  avoid  crowds  and  hurries,  to  show  his  dis 
ciples  it  wTas  good  to  be  solitary,  and  sit  loose  to  the. 
world.  Two  enemies  He  near  your  states,  imagination 
and  liberty ;  but  the  plain,  practical,  living,  holy  Truth, 
that  has  convinced  you,  will  preserve  you,  if  you  mind 
it  in  yourselves,  and  bring  all  thoughts,  inclinations,  and 
affections  to  the  test  of  it,  to  see  if  they  are  wrought 
in  God,  or  of  the  enemy,  or  your  ownselves.  So  will  a 
true  taste,  discerning,  and  judgment  be  preserved  to  you, 
of  what  you  should  do  and  leave  undone.  And  when 
you  are  converted,  as  well  as  convinced,  then  confirm 
your  brethren ;  and  be  ready  to  every  good  word  and 
work  that  the  Lord  shall  call  you  to. 

And  now,  as  for  you,  that  are  the  children  of  God's 
people,  a  great  concern  is  upon  my  spirit  for  your  good. 
0  you  young  men  and  women !  let  it  not  suffice  you,  that 
you  are  the  children  of  the  people  of  the  Lord ;  you 
must  also  be  born  again,  if  you  will  inherit  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Have  you  obeyed  the  light,  and  received  and 
walked  in  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  incorruptible  seed  of 
the  Word  and  kingdom  of  God,  of  which  you  must  be 
born  again  ?  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  The  father 
cannot  save  or  answer  for  the  child,  or  the  child  for  the 
father.  Your  many  and  great  privileges  above  the  chil 
dren  of  other  people,  will  add  weight  in  the  scale  against 
you,  if  you  choose  not  the  way  of  the  Lord.  For  you 
have  had  line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon  precept,  and 


416  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

not  only -good  doctrine,  but  good  example;  and,  which  is 
more,  you  have  been  turned  to,  and  acquainted  with,  a 
principle  in  yourselves,  which  others  have  been  ignorant  of. 
Wherefore,  0  ye  young  men  and  women !  look  to  the 
rock  of  your  fathers.  There  is  no  other  God  but  Him, 
no  other  light  but  his,  no  other  grace  but  his,  nor  spirit 
but  his,  to  convince  you,  quicken  and  comfort  you ;  to 
lead,  guide,  and  preserve  you  to  God's  everlasting  king 
dom.  So  will  you  be  possessors  as  well  as  professors  of 
the  Truth,  embracing  it  not  only  by  education,  but  judg 
ment  and  conviction  ;  from  a  sense  begotten  in  your  souls, 
through  the  operation  of  the  eternal  Spirit  and  power  of 
God. 

I  shall  conclude  with  a  few  words  to  those  that  are  not 
of  our  communion,  into  whose  hands  this  may  come. 

I  beseech  you,  ponder  with  yourselves  your  eternal 
condition,  and  see  what  title,  what  ground  and  founda 
tion  you  have  for  your  Christianity  ;  if  more  than  a  pro 
fession,  and  an  historical  belief  of  the  gospel.  Have  you 
known  the  baptism  of  fire,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 
fan  of  Christ  that  winnows  away  the  chaff  in  your 
minds,  and  carnal  lusts  and  affections  ? — that  divine  ieaven 
of  the  kingdom,  that,  being  received,  leavens  the  whole 
lump  of  man,  sanctifying  him  throughout  in  body,  soul, 
and  spirit. 

If  you  have  true  faith  in  Christ,  your  faith  will  make 
you  clean ;  it  will  sanctify  you ;  for  the  saints'  faith  was 
their  victory  of  old.  By  this  they  overcame  sin  within, 
and  sinful  men  without.  And  if  thou  art  in  Christ,  thou 
walkest  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit,  whose 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  417 

fruits  arc  manifest.  Yea,  thou  art  a  new  creature ;  now 
made,  new  fashioned,  after  God's  will  and  mould.  Old 
things  are  clone  away,  and  behold  all  thing's  are  become 
new ;  new  love,  desires,  will,  affections,  and  practices. 
Therefore,  have  a  care  how  you  presume  to  rely  upon 
such  a  notion,  as  that  you  are  in  Christ,  whilst  in  your 
old  fallen  nature. 

If  you  would  know  God,  and  worship  and  serve  God 
as  }TOU  should  do,  you  must  come  to  the  means  He  has  or 
dained  and  given  for  that  purpose.  Some  seek  it  in  books, 
some  in  learned  men  ;  but  what  they  look  for  is  in  them 
selves,  though  not  of  themselves  ;  but  they  overlook  it.  The 
voice  is  too  still,  the  seed  too  small,  and  the  light  shineth  in 
darkness.  Wherefore,  0  Friends,  turn  in,  turn  in,  I  beseech 
you.  There  you  want  Christ,  and  there  you  must  find  Him ; 
and  blessed  be  God,  there  you  may  find  Him.  Seek  and 
you  shall  find,  I  testify  for  God.  But  then  you  must  seek 
aright,  with  your  w^holc  heart,  as  men  that  seek  for  their 
lives,  yea,  for  their  eternal  lives ;  diligently,  humbly, 
patiently,  as  those  that  can  taste  no  pleasure,  comfort,  or 
satisfaction  in  anything  else,  unless  you  find  Him  whom 
your  souls  desire  to  know  and  love  above  all.  Oh  !  it  is 
a  travail,  a  spiritual  travail,  let  the  carnal,  profane  world 
think  and  say  as  it  will.  And  through  this  path  you 
must  walk  to  the  city  of  God,  that  has  eternal  founda 
tions,  if  ever  you  will  come  there. 

Well!  and  what  does  this  blessed  light  do  for  you? 
Why,  first,  it  sets  all  your  sins  in  order  before  you;  it 
detects  the  spirit  of  this  world  in  all  its  baits  and  allure 
ments,  and  shows  how  man  came  to  fall  from  God,  and 
the  fallen  estate  he  is  in.  Secondly,  it  begets  a  sense  and 


418  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

sorrow  in  such  as  believe  in  it,  for  this  fearful  lapse.  You 
will  then  see  Him  distinctly  whom  you  have  pierced,  and 
all  the  blows  and  wounds  you  have  given  Him  by  your 
disobedience,  and  how  you  have  made  Him  to  serve  with 
your  sins ;  and  you  will  weep  and  mourn  for  it,  and  your 
sorrow  will  be  a  godly  sorrow.  Thirdly,  after  this  it  will 
bring  you  to  the  holy  watch,  to  take  care  that  you  do  so  no 
more,  and  that  the  enemy  surprise  you  not  again.  Then 
thoughts,  as  well  as  words  and  works,  will  come  to  judg 
ment  ;  which  is  the  way  of  holiness,  in  which  the  redeemed 
of  the  Lord  do  walk.  Here  you  will  come  to  love  God 
above  all,  and  your  neighbors  as  yourselves.  Nothing  hurts, 
nothing  harms,  nothing  makes  afraid  on  this  holy  mountain. 
Now  you  come  to  be  Christ's  indeed  ;  for  you  are  his  in 
nature  and  spirit,  and  not  your  own.  And  when  you  are 
thus  Christ's,  then  Christ  is  yours,  and  not  before.  And 
here  communion  with  the  Father  and  with  the  Son  you 
will  know,  and  the  efficacy  of  the  blood  of  cleansing,  even 
the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  immaculate  Lamb,  which 
speaks  better  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel ;  and  which 
cleanseth  from  all  sin  the  consciences  of  those  that  through 
the  living  faith  come  to  be  sprinkled  with  it,  from  dead 
works  to  serve  the  living  God. 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  419 


XXII. 

IN  the  year  1695,  an  anonymous  writer  published  what 
he  called  an  answer  to  William  Pcnn's  Key ;  a  tract 
which  has  been  noticed  under  the  transactions  of  1G92. 

The  writer,  having-  charged  him  with  prevarication,  and 
attributed  his  conduct  to  an  intemperate  zeal  for  an  un 
bounded  liberty  of  conscience,  according  to  the  doctrine 
of  King  James's  declaration,  William  Penn  refers  him  to 
several  of  his  works  which  were  published  in  Charles's 
time,  to  show  that  he  always  defended  the  same  principles, 
and  was  not  more  intemperate  in  the  reign  that  favored 
liberty  of  conscience  than  he  was  in  the  one  which  did 
not.  To  which  he  adds,  "  Xo  man  but  a  persecutor  can, 
without  great  injustice  or  ingratitude,  reproach  that  part 
I  had  in  King  James's  court.  For  I  think  I  may  say, 
without  vanity,  upon  this  provocation,  I  endeavored  at 
least  to  do  some  good  at  my -own  cost,  and  would  have 
been  glad  to  have  done  more.  I  am  very  sure  I  intended, 
and  I  think  I  did,  harm  to  none,  either  parties  or  private 
persons,  my  own  family  execpted." 

On  the  5th  of  First  month,  1096,  William  Ponn  accom 
plished  his  marriage  at  Bristol  with  Hannah  Callowhill, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Callowhill,  and  granddaughter  of 
Dennis  Ilollister,  both  eminent  merchants  of  that  city. 

Shortly  after  this  he  was  subjected  to  a  heavy  trial,  by 
the  death  of  his  eldest  son,  a  youth  of  very  promising 


420  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

character,  both  in  regard  to  his  understanding,  which  was 
of  the  brightest  order,  and  the  more  substantial  virtues 
of  the  heart. 

His  father  has  left  the  following  record : 

"My  very  dear  child  and  eldest  son,  Springett  Penn, 
from  his  childhood  manifested  a  disposition  to  goodness, 
and  gave  me  hope  of  a  more  than  ordinary  capacity  ;  and 
time  satisfied  me  in  both  respects.  Besides  a  good  share 
of  learning  and  especially  of  mathematical  knowledge,  lie 
showed  a  judgment  in  the  use  and  application  of  it,  much 
above  his  years.  lie  had  the  seeds  of  many  good  quali 
ties  rising  in  him,  which  made  him  beloved,  and  conse 
quently  lamented ;  but  especially  his  humility,  plainness, 
and  truth  ;  with  a  tenderness  and  softness  of  nature  that, 
if  I  may  say  it,  were  an  improvement  upon  his  other  good 
qualities.  And  though  these  were  no  security  against  sick 
ness  and  death,  yet  they  went  a  good  way  to  facilitate  a 
due  preparation  for  them.  Indeed  the  good  ground  that 
was  in  him  showed  itself  very  plainly  sometime  before  his 
illness.  For  more  than  half  a  year  before  it  pleased  the 
Lord  to  visit  him  with  weakness,  he  grew  more  retired, 
and  much  disengaged  from  youthful  delights  ;  showing  a 
remarkable  tenderness  in  meetings,  even  when  they  were 
silent.  But  when  he  saw  himself  doubtful  as  to  his  re 
covery,  he  turned  his  mind  and  meditations  more  appar 
ently  towards  the  Lord ;  secretly,  as  also  when  those 
were  in  the  room  who  attended  upon  him,  praying  often 
with  great  fervency  to  the  Lord,  and  uttering  many, 
thankful  expressions  and  praises  to  Him  in  a  very  deep 
and  sensible  manner.  One  day  he  said  to  us,  'I  am  re 
signed  to  what  God  plcaseth  ;  He  knows  what  is  best.  I 


OF    WILLIAM    TENX.  421 

would  live,  if  it  pleased  Him,  that  I  might  serve  Him. 
But,  0  Lord,  not  my  will,  but  thy  will  be  done.' 

"Ono  speaking-  to  him  of  the  things  of  this  world,  and 
what  might  please  him  when  recovered,  he  answered, 
'My  eye  looks  another  way,  where  the  truest  pleasure  is.' 
When  he  told  me  he  had  rested  well,  and  I  said  it  was  a 
mercy  to  him,  he  quickly  replied  upon  me,  with  a  serious 
yet  sweet  look,  'All.  is  mercy,  dear  father;  everything  is 
mercy.'  Another  time  when  I  went  to  meeting,  at  part 
ing,  he  said,  '  Remember  me,  my  dear  father,  before  the 
Lord.  Though  I  cannot  go  to  meetings,  yet  I  have  many 
good  meetings;  the  Lord  comes  in  upon  my  spirit.  I 
have  heavenly  meetings  with  Him  by  myself.' 

"Not  many  days  before  he  died,  while  alone,  the  Lord 
appeared  by  his  holy  power  upon  his  spirit,  and  at  my 
return,  asking  him  how  he  did,  he  told  me,  'Oh,  I  have  had 
a  sweet  time,  a  blessed  time  !  Great  enjoyments.  The 
power  of  the  Lord  overcame  my  soul:  a  sweet  time  in 
deed  ! ' 

"On  my  telling  him  how  some  of  the  gentry  who  had 
been  to  visit  him  were  gone  to  their  games,  and  sports, 
and  pleasures,  and  how  little  consideration  the  children 
of  men  had  of  God  and  their  latter  end;  and  how  much 
happier  he  was  in  this  weakness,  to  have  been  otherwise 
educated,  and  to  be  preserved  from  those  temptations  to 
vanity,  etc.,  he  answered,  'It  is  all  stuff,  my  dear  father: 
it  is  sad  stuff.  Oh,  that  I  might  live  to  tell  them  so  P  '  Well, 
my  dear  child,'  I  replied,  'let  this  be  the  time  of  thy  enter 
ing  into  secret  covenant  with  God,  that  if  He  raise  thce, 
thou  wilt  dedicate  thy  youth,  strength,  and  life  to  Him  and 
his  people  and  service.'  lie  returned,  '  Father,  that  is  not 
36 


422  TAILS  AGES    FROM    THE    LJFE 

now  to  do;  it  is  not  now  to  do;7  with  great  tenderness 
upon  his  spirit. 

"  Being  almost  ever  near  him,  and  doing-  anything  for 
him  he  wanted  or  desired,  he  broke  out  with  much  sense 
and  love, '  My  dear  father,  if  I  live  I  will  make  thcc  amends.' 
And  speaking  to  him  of  Divine  enjoyments,  that  the  eye 
of  man  saw  not,  but  the  soul,  made  alive  by  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  plainly  felt ;  he,  in  a  lively  remembrance,  cried 
out,  'I  had  a  sweet  time  yesterday  by  myself!  the  Lord 
hath  preserved  me  to  this  day  I  0  blessed  be  his  name ; 
my  soul  praises  Him  for  his  mercy !  Father,  it  is  of  the 
goodness  of  the  Lord  that  I  am  as  well  as  I  am ! '  Fixing 
his  eyes  upon  his  sister,  he  took  her  by  the  hand,  saying, 
'  Poor  Tishc,  look  to  good  things,  poor  child,  there  is  no 
comfort  without  it.  One  drop  of  the  love  of  God  is  worth 
more  than  all  the  world.  I  know  it;  I  have  tasted  it.  I 
have  felt  as  much  or  more  of  the  love  of  God  in  this  weak 
ness  than  in  all  my  life  before.'  At  another  time,  as  I 
stood  by  him,  he  looked  up  upon  me  and  said,  '  Dear  father, 
sit  by  me.  I  love  thy  company,  and  I  know  thou  lovcst 
mine ;  and  if  it  be  the  Lord's  will  that  we  must  part,  be 
not  troubled,  for  that  will  trouble  me.' 

"  Taking  something  one  night  in  bed,  just  before  going 
to  rest,  he  sat  up,  and  fervently  prayed  thus:  '0  Lord 
God,  thou  whose  Son  said  to  his  disciples,  Whatsoever  ye 
ask  in  my  name  ye  shall  receive,  I  pray  thee,  in  his 
name,  bless  this  to  me  this  night,  and  give  me  rest,  if  it 
be  thy  blessed  will,  0  Lord  ! '  And  accordingly  he  had  a 
very  comfortable  night,  of  which  he  took  a  thankful  notice 
before  us  next  day. 

"And  when  he  at  one  time,  more  than  ordinarily,  ex- 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  423 

pressed  a  desire  to  live,  and  entreated  me  to  prny  for  him, 
he  added,  '  Dear  father,  if  the  Lord  should  raise  me  and 
enable  me  to  serve  Him  and  his  people,  then  I  might  travel 
with  thee  sometimes,  and  we  might  ease  one  another,' 
(meaning  in  the  ministry:)  he  spoke  it  with  great  mod 
esty.  Upon  which  I  said  to  him,  '  My  dear  child,  if  it 
please  the  Lord  to  raise  thee,  I  am  satisfied  it  will  be  so ; 
and  if  not,  then  inasmuch  as  it  is  thy  fervent  desire  in  the 
Lord,  He  will  look  upon  thee  just  as  if  thou  didst  live  to 
serve  Him,  and  thy  comfort  will  be  the  same :  so  either 
way  it  will  be  well.  For  if  thou  shouldst  not  live,  I  do 
verily  believe  thou  wilt  have  the  recompense  of  thy  good 
desires,  without  the  temptations  and  troubles  that  would 
attend,  if  long  life  were  granted  to  thee.' 

"  Saying  one  day,  *  I  am  resolved  I  will  have  such  a  thing 
done,'  he  immediately  catchecl  himself,  and  fell  into  this 
reflection,  with  much  contrition,  '  Did  I  say,  I  will  ?  O 
Lord,  forgive  me  that  irreverent  and  hasty  expression ! 
I  am  a  poor  weak  creature  and  live  by  thee,  and  therefore 
I  should  have  said,  if  it  pleaseth  thee  that  I  live,  I  intend 
to  do  so  or  so  ;  Lord,  forgive  my  rash  expression.' 

"  Seeing  my  present  wife  ready  to  be  helpful  and  do 
anything  for  him,  he  turned  to  her  and  said,  '  Don't  thou 
do  so  ;  let  them ;  don't  trouble  thyself  so  much  for  such  a 
poor  creature  as  I  am.'  On  her  taking  leave  of  him  a  few 
nights  before  his  end,  he  said  to  her,  '  Pray  for  me,  dear 
mother :  thou  art  good  and  innocent,  it  may  be  the  Lord 
may  hear  thy  prayers  for  me,  for  I  desire  my  strength 
again,  that  I  might  live,  and  employ  it  more  in  the  Lord's 
service.' 

"  Two  or  three  days  before  his  departure,  he  called  his 


424  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

brother  to  him,  and  looking  awfully  upon  him  said,  'Be  a 
good  boy,  and  know  there  is  a  God,  a  great  and  mighty 
God,  who  is  a  rewarder  of  the  righteous,  and  so  He  is  of 
the  wicked,  but  their  rewards  are  not  the  same.  Have  a 
care  of  idle  people  and  idle  company,  and  love  good  com 
pany  and  good  Friends,  and  the  Lord  will  bless  thee.  I 
have  seen  good  things  for  thee  since  my  sickness,  if  thou 
dost  but  fear  the  Lord.  And  if  I  should  not  live,  though 
the  Lord  is  aH-sufficient,  remember  what  I  say  to  thee, 
when  I  am  dead  and  gone :  poor  child,  the  Lord  bless 
thee ;  come  and  kiss  me  ! '  Which  melted  us  all  into  great 
tenderness,  but  his  brother  more  particularly. 

"  Many  good  exhortations  he  gave  to  some  of  the  ser 
vants,  and  others  who  came  to  see  him,  that  were  not  of 
our  communion,  as  well  as  those  that  were,  which  drew 
tears  from  their  eyes. 

"  The  day  but  one  before  he  died,  he  went  to  take  the 
air  in  a  coach  ;  but  said  at  his  return,  'Really,  father,  I  am 
exceedingly  weak;  thou  canst  not  think  how  weak  I  am.' 
'  My  dear  child,'  I  replied,  'thou  art  weak,  but  God  is  strong, 
who  is  the  strength  of  thy  life.'  '  Ay,  that  is  it,'  said  he, 
'which  upholdeth  me.'  The  day  before  he  departed,  being 
alone  with  him,  he  desired  me  to  fasten  the  door  ;  and  look 
ing  earnestly  upon  me,  said,  '  Dear  father,  thou  art  a  dear 
father,  and  I  know  thy  Father ;  come  let  us  two  have  a 
little  meeting,  a  private  ejaculation  together,  now  nobody 
else  is  here.  0  my  soul  is  sensible  of  the  love  of  God  ! ' 
And  indeed  a  sweet  time  we  had,  like  to  precious  oint 
ment  for  his  burial. 

"  He  desired  to  go  home,  if  not  to  live,  to  die  there,  and 
we  made  preparation  for  it,  being  twenty  miles  from  my 


OF    WILLIAM    TENN.  425 

house  ;  and  so  much  stronger  was  his  spirit  than  his  body, 
that  he  spoke  of  going  next  day,  which  was  the  morning 
he  departed ;  and  a  symptom  it  was  of  his  great  journey 
to  his  longer  home.  That  morning  he  left  us,  growing 
more  and  more  sensible  of  his  extreme  weakness  he 
asked  me,  as  doubtful  of  himself,  '  How  shall  I  go 
home  ? '  I  told  him  in  a  coach ;  he  answered,  '  I  am 
best  in  a  coach.'  But  observing  his  decay,  I  said,  '  Why, 
child?  thou  art  at  home  everywhere.'  'Ay,'  said  he,  'so 
I  am  in  the  Lord.'  I  took  that  opportunity  to  ask  him  if 
I  should  remember  his  love  to  his  friends  at  Bristol,  Lon 
don,  etc.  '  Yes,  yes,'  said  he,  'my  love  in  the  Lord  ;  my 
love  to  all  friends  in  the  Lord.'  'And  relations,  too?' 
He  said,  '  Ay,  to  be  sure.'  Being  asked  if  he  would  have 
his  ass's  milk,  or  eat  anything,  he  answered,  '  ]STo  more 
outward  food,  but  heavenly  food  is  provided  for  me.' 

"  His  time  drawing  on  apace,  he  said  to  me,  '  My  dear 
father,  kiss  me.  Thou  art  a  dear  father.  I  desire  to  prize 
it ;  how  can  I  make  thee  amends  ? ' 

"  He  also  called  his  sister,  and  said  to  her,  '  Poor  child, 
come  and  kiss  me ; '  there  seemed  a  tender  and  long  fare 
well  between  them.  I  sent  for  his  brother  that  he  might 
kiss  him,  too,  which  he  did ;  all  were  in  tears  about  him, 
and  turning  his  head  to  me,  he  said  softly,  'Dear  father, 
hast  thou  no  hope  for  me  ? '  I  answered,  '  My  dear  child, 
I  am  afraid  to  hope,  and  I  dare  not  despair ;  but  am  and 
have  been  resigned,  though  one  of  the  hardest  lessons  I 
ever  learned.'  He  paused  awhile,  and  with  a  composed 
frame  of  mind,  said,  '  Come  life,  come  death,  I  am  re 
signed.  Oh,  the  love  of  God  overcomes  my  soul ! '  Feel 
ing  himself  decline  apace,  and  seeing  him  not  able  to  bring 
36* 


426  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

up  the  matter  that  was  in  his  throat,  somebody  fetched 
the  doctor,  but  so  soon  as  he  came  in,  he  said,  '  Let  my 
father  speak  to  the  doctor,  and  I  will  go  to  sleep  ; '  which 
he  did,  and  waked  no  more,  breathing  his  last  on  my 
breast,  the  10th  day  of  the  Second  month,  between  the 
hours  of  nine  and  ten  in  the  morning,  169G,  in  his  one 
and  twentieth  year. 

"  So  ended  the  life  of  my  dear  child  and  eldest  son, 
much  of  my  comfort  and  hope,  and  one  of  the  most  tender 
and  dutiful,  as  well  as  ingenuous  and  virtuous,  youths  I 
knew,  if  I  may  say  so  of  my  own  dear  child.  In  him  I 
lost  all  that  any  father  can  lose  in  a  child,  since  he  was 
capable  of  anything  that  became  a  sober  young  man ;  my 
friend  and  companion,  as  well  as  most  affectionate  and 
dutiful  child. 

"May  this  loss  and  end  have  its  due  weight  and  im 
pression  upon  all  his  dear  relations  and  friends,  and  those 
to  whose  hands. this  account  may  come,  for  their  remem 
brance  and  preparation  for  their  great  and  last  change ; 
and  I  shall  have  my  end  in  making  my  dear  child  thus 
far  public.  WILLIAM  PENN." 

The  year  in  which  the  events  last  mentioned  occurred 
appears  to  have  been  passed  by  William  Penn  chiefly  at 
home;  yet  he  was  not  entirely  occupied  with  his  secular 
concerns,  for  he  published  a  tract,  entitled,  "  PRIMITIVE 
CHRISTIANITY 'REVIVED,  IN  THE  FAITH  AND  PRACTICE  OF 
THE  PEOPLE  CALLED  QUAKERS,"  (from  which  the  following 
is  taken.) 

THAT  wiircn  the  people  called  Quakers  lay  down  as  a 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  427 

main  fundamental  in  religion,  is  this,  That  God,  through 
Christ,  hath  placed  his  Spirit  in  every  man,  to  inform  him 
of  his  duty,  and  to  enable  him  to  do  it;  and  that  those 
who  live  up  to  this,  are  the  people  of  God,  and  those  that 
live  in  disobedience  to  it  are  not  God's  people,  whatever 
name  they  may  bear  or  profession  they  may  make  of  re 
ligion.  This  is  their  ancient,  first,  and  standing  testimony. 
With  this  they  began,  and  this  they  bore,  and  do  bear  to 
the  world. 

By  this  Spirit  they  understand  something  that  is  Divine  ; 
and  though  in  man,  yet  not  of  man,  but  of  God;  and 
that  it  came  from  Him,  and  leads  to  Him  all  those  that 
will  be  led  by  it. 

There  are  divers  ways  of  speaking,  which  they  have 
been  led  to  use,  by  which  they  declare  and  express  what 
this  Spirit  is,  about  which  I  think  fit  to  precaution  the 
render,  viz.,  They  call  it,  The  light  of  Christ  within  man, 
or  light  within,  which  is  their  ancient  and  most  general 
and  familiar  phrase ;  also  the  manifestation  or  appearance 
of  Christ,  the  witness  of  God,  the  seed  of  God,  the  seed 
of  the  kingdom,  wisdom,  the  word  in  the  heart,  the  grace 
that  appears  to  all  men,  the  Spirit  given  to  every  man  to 
profit  with,  the  Truth  in  the  inward  ptfrts,  the  spiritual 
leaven  that  leavens  the  whole  lump  of  man ;  many  of 
which  are  figurative  expressions,  but  all  of  them  such  as 
the  Holy  Ghost  hath  used,  and  which  will  be  used  in  this 
treatise,  as  they  are  most  frequently  in  the  writings  and 
ministry  of  this  people.  But  that  this  variety  and  manner 
of  expression  may  not  occasion  any  misapprehension  or 
confusion  in  the  understanding  of  the  reader,  I  would 
have  him  know  that  they  always  mean  by  these  terms 


428  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

or  denominations,  not  another,  but  the  same  as  before 
mentioned ;  which  as  I  said,  though  it  be  in  man,  is  not 
of  man,  but  of  God,  and,  therefore,  divine ;  and  one  in 
itself,  though  diversely  expressed  by  the  holy  men,  accord 
ing  to  the  various  manifestations  and  operations  thereof. 

It  is  to  this  spirit  of  light,  life,  and  grace  that  this 
people  refer  all ;  for  they  say  it  is  the  great  agent  in  re 
ligion;  that,  without  which,  there  is  no  conviction,  so  no 
conversion  or  regeneration;  and  consequently  no  enter 
ing  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  That  is  to  say,  there  can 
be  no  true  sight  of  sin  or  sorrow  for  it,  and,  therefore,  no 
forsaking  or  overcoming  it,  nor  remission  or  justification 
from  it. 

THE  DOCTRINES  of  satisfaction  and  justification,  truly 
understood,  are  placed  in  so  strict  a  union,  that  the  one  is 
a  necessary  consequence  of  the  other,  and  what  we  say  of 
them,  is  what  agrees  with  the  suffrage  of  Scripture,  and 
for  the  most  part  in  the  terms  of  it ;  always  believing  that 
in  points  where  there  arises  any  difficulty,  be  it  from  the 
obscurity  of  expression,  mis-translation,  or  the  dust  raised 
by  the  heats  of  partial  writers,  or  nice  critics,  it  is  ever 
best  to  keep  close  to  the  text,  and  maintain  charity  in  the 
rest. 

We  do  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was  our  holy  sacrifice, 
atonement,  and  propitiation  ;  that  He  bore  our  iniquities, 
and  that  by  his  stripes  we  were  healed  of  the  wounds 
Adam  gave  us  in  his  fall ;  and  that  God  is  just  in  for 
giving  true  penitents  upon  the  credit  of  that  holy  offering 
which  Christ  made  of  himself  to  God  for  us ;  and  that 
what  He  did  and  suffered,  satisfied  and  pleased  God,  and 
was  for  the  sake  of  fallen  man,  who  had  displeased  God: 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  429 

and  that  through  the  offering  up  of  himself  once  for  all, 
through  the  eternal  Spirit;  He  hath  forever  perfected  those 
(in  all  times)  that  were  sanctified,  who  walked  not  after 
the  flesh,  but  after  the  spirit,  Rom.  viii.  1. 

Justification  consists  of  two  parts,  or  hath  a  twofold 
consideration,  viz.  justification  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  and 
justification  from  the  power  and  pollution  of  sin;  and  in 
this  sense  justification  gives  a  man  a  full  and  clear  accept 
ance  before  God.  For  want  of  this  latter  part  it  is,  that 
so  many  souls,  religiously  inclined,  are  often  under  doubts, 
scruples,  and  despondencies,  notwithstanding  all  that 
their  teachers  tell  them  of  the  extent  and  efficacy  of  the 
first  part  of  justification.  And  it  is  too  general  an  un- 
happiness  among  the  professors  of  Christianity,  that  they 
arc  apt  to  cloak  their  own  active  and  passive  disobedience 
with  the  active  and  passive  obedience  of  Christ. 

The  first  part  of  justification,  we  do  reverently  and 
humbly  acknowledge,  is  only  for  the  sake  of  the  death 
and  sufferings  of  Christ ;  nothing  we  can  do,  though  by 
the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  being  able  to  cancel  old 
debts,  or  wipe  out  old  scores ;  it  is  the  power  and  efficacy 
of  that  propitiatory  offering,  upon  faith  and  repentance, 
that  justifies  us  from  the  sins  that  are  past ;  and  it  is  the 
power  of  Christ's  spirit  in  our  hearts,  that  purifies  and 
makes  us  acceptable  before  God.  For  until  the  heart  of 
man  is  purged  from  sin,  God  will  never  accept  of  it.  He 
reproves,  rebukes  and  condemns  those  that  entertain  sin 
there,  and  therefore  such  cannot  be  said  to  be  in  a  justified 
state ;  condemnation  and  justification  being  contraries. 
So  that  they  that  hold  themselves  in  a  justified  state  by 
the  active  and  passive  obedience  of  Christ,  while  they  are 


430  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

not  actively  and  passively  obedient  to  the  spirit  of  Christ 
Jesus,  are  under  a  strong  and  dangerous  delusion  ;  and 
for  crying  out  against  this  sin-pleasing  imagination,  not 
to  say  doctrine,  we  are  reproached  as  deniers  and  despisers 
of  the  death  and  sufferings  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But 
be  it  known  to  such  they  add  to  Christ's  sufferings,  and 
crucify  to  themselves  afresh  the  Son  of  God,  and  trample 
the  blood  of  the  covenant  under  their  feet,  who  walk 
unholily  under  a  profession  of  justification  ;  for  God  will 
not  acquit  the  guilty,  nor  justify  the  disobedient  and  un 
faithful. 

Wherefore,  0  my  reader,  rest  not  thyself  wholly  satis 
fied  with  what  Christ  has  done  for  thce  in  his  blessed  per 
son  without  thce,  but  press  to  know  his  power  and  king 
dom  within  thee,  that  the  strong  man,  who  has  too  long 
kept  thy  house,  may  be  bound  and  his  goods  spoiled,  his 
works  destroyed  and  sin  ended,  according  to  1  John  iii. 
7.  For  which  end,  says  that  beloved  disciple,  Christ  was 
manifested  ;  that  all  things  may  become  new  ;  new  heav 
ens  and  new  earth,  in  which  righteousness  dwells.  Thus 
thou  wilt  come  to  glorify  God  in  thy  body  and  in  thy 
spirit,  which  are  his;  and  live  to  him  and  not  to  thyself. 
Thy  love,  joy,  worship,  and  obedience  ;  thy  life,  conversa 
tion  and  practice;  thy  study,  meditation  and  devotion,  will 
be  spiritual.  The  Father  and  the  Son  will  make  their 
abode  with  thee,  and  Christ  will  manifest  himself  to  thee; 
for  the  secrets  of  the  Lord  are  with  them  that  fear  Him ; 
and  an  holy  unction  or  anointing  have  all  those,  which 
leads  them  into  all  truth,  and  they  need  not  the  teachings 
of  men.  They  are  better  taught,  being  instructed  by  the 
Divine  oracle.  They  are  not  bare  hearsay  or  traditional 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  401 

Christians,  but  fresh  and  living1  witnesses  :  those  1hat  have 
seen  with  their  own  eyes,  and  heard  wTith  their  own  ears, 
and  have  handled  wTith  their  own  hands  the  Word  of  life, 
in  the  divers  operations  of  it,  to  their  souls'  salvation. 
In  this  they  meet,  in  this  they  preach,  and  in  this  they 
pray  and  praise ;  behold  the  new  covenant  fulfilled,  the 
church  and  worship  of  Christ,  the  great  anointed  of  God 
and  the  great  anointing  of  God  in  his  holy  high  priest 
hood  and  offices  in  his  church ! 

AND  LEST  any  should  say  we  are  equivocal  in  our  ex 
pressions,  and  allegorize  away  Christ's  appearance  in  the 
flesh — meaning  only  thereby  our  own  flesh ;  and  that  as 
often  as  we  mention  Him,  we  mean  only  a  mystery  or  a 
mystical  sense  of  Him,  be  it  as  to  his  coming-,  birth,  mira 
cles,  sufferings,  death,  resurrection,  ascension,  mediation, 
and  judgment ;  I  would  yet  add,  to  preserve  the  well  dis 
posed  from  being  staggered  by  such  suggestions,  and  to 
inform  and  reclaim  such  as  are  under  the  power  and  preju 
dice  of  them  : 

That  we  do,  we  bless  God,  religiously  believe  and  con 
fess,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  honor  of  his 
dear  and  beloved  Son,  that  Jesus  Christ  took  our  nature 
upon  Him,  and  was  like  unto  us  in  all  things,  sin  except- 
ed ;  that  He  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary ;  suffered  under 
Pontius  Pilate,  the  Roman  governor  ;  was  crucified,  dead, 
and  buried  in  the  sepulchre  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea  ;  rose 
again  the  third  day,  and  ascended  into  heaven,  and  sits 
on  the  right  hand  of  God,  in  the  power  and  majesty  of  his 
Father,  who  will  one  day  judge  the  world  by  Him,  even 
that  blessed  man,  Christ  Jesus,  according  to  their  Avorks. 

But,  because  we  so  believe,  must  we  not  believe  what 


432  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

Christ  said?  "He  that  is  with  you  shall  bo  in  you."  "I 
in  them,  and  they  in  me,"  etc.  "  When  it  pleased  God  to 
reveal  his  Son  in  me."  "  The  mystery  hid  from  ages  is 
Christ  in  the  Gentiles,  the  hope  of  glory."  "  Unless  Christ 
be  in  you,  ye  are  reprobates  !  "  Or  must  we  be  industri 
ously  represented  as  deniers  of  Christ's  coming  in  the 
flesh,  and  the  holy  ends  of  it,  in  all  the  parts  and  branches 
of  his  doing  and  suffering,  only  because  we  believe  and 
press  the  necessity  of  believing,  receiving  and  obeying  his 
inward  and  spiritual  appearance  and  manifestation  of  him 
self,  through  his  light,  grace,  and  Spirit  in  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  men  and  women,  to  reprove,  convict,  con 
vert,  arid  change  them  ? 

Regeneration  we  must  know,  or  we  cannot  be  children 
of  God  and  heirs  of  eternal  glory.  To  be  born  again,  an 
other  spirit  must  prevail,  leaven,  season,  and  govern  us 
than  either  the  spirit  of  the  world  or  our  own  depraved 
spirits ;  and  this  can  be  no  other  Spirit  than  that  which 
dwelt  in  Christ;  for  unless  that  dwell  in  us,  we  can  be 
none  of  his  (Rom.  viii.  9).  And  this  Spirit  begins  in  con 
viction,  and  ends  in  conversion  and  perseverance;  and  the 
one  follows  the  other.  Conversion  being  the  consequence 
of  convictions  obeyed,  and  perseverance  a  natural  fruit  of 
conversion,  and  being  born  of  God;  "For  such  sin  not, 
because  the  Seed  of  God  abides  in  them."  But  such, 
through  faithfulness,  continue  to  the  end,  and  obtain  the 
promise,  even  everlasting  life. 

But  let  my  reader  take  this  along  with  him,  that  we 
do  acknowledge  that  Christ,  through  his  holy  doing  and 
suffering,  for  being  a  Son,  He  learned  obedience,  has  ob 
tained  mercy  of  God,  his  Father,  for  mankind,  and  ttat 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  433 

his  obedience  has  an  influence  to  our  salvation,  in  all  the 
parts  and  branches  of  it,  since  thereby  he  became  a  con 
queror,  and  led  captivity  captive,  and  obtained  gifts  for 
men,  with  divers  great  and  precious  promises,  that  there 
by  we  might  be  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature,  having 
escaped  the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world,  through  lust. 
I  say,  we  do  believe  and  confess,  that  the  active  and  passive 
obedience  of  Christ  Jesus  affects  our  salvation  throughout, 
as  well  from  the  power  and  pollution  of  sin  as  from  the 
guilt,  he  being  a  conqueror  as  well  as  a  sacrifice,  and  both 
through  suffering.  Yet  they  that  reject  his  Divine  gift, 
so  obtained,  and  which  He  has  given  to  them,  by  which  to 
see  their  sin  and  the  sinfulness  of  it,  and  to  repent  and 
turn  away  from  it,  and  do  so  no  more ;  and  to  wait  upon 
God  for  daily  strength  to  resist  the  fiery  darts  of  the 
enemy,  and  to  be  comforted  through  the  obedience  of 
faith  in  and  to  this  Divine  grace  of  the  Son  of  God,  such 
do  not  please  God,  do  not  believe  truly  in  God,  nor  are 
they  in  a  state  of  true  Christianity  and  salvation.  "  Wo 
man,"  said  Christ  to  the  Samaritan  at  the  well,  "  hadst 
thou  known  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  speakcth 
to  thec,"  etc.-  People  know  not  Christ  and  God,  "whom 
to  know  is  life  eternal,"  because  they  are  ignorant  of  the 
gift  of  God,  viz. :  "  A  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal;"  which  reveals 
Christ  and  God  to  the  soul.  Flesh  and  blood  cannot  do 
it,  Oxford  and  Cambridge  cannot  do  it,  tongues  and  phil 
osophy  cannot  do  it :  for  they  who  by  wisdom  knew  not 
God,  had  these  things  for  their  wisdom.  They  were 
strong,  deep,  and  accurate  in  them ;  but,  alas !  they  were 
clouded,  puffed  up,  and  set  further  off  from  the  inward 
37  20 


PASSAGES     FKOM     THE     LIFE 

and  saving-  knowledge  of  God,  because  they  sought  for  It 
in  them,  and  thought  to  find  God  there.  But  the  key  of 
David  is  another  thing,  which  shuts  and  no  man  opens, 
and  opens  and  no  man  shuts ;  and  this  key  have  all  they 
•that  receive  the  gift  of  God  into  their  hearts,  and  it  opens 
to  them  the  knowledge  of  God  and  themselves,  and  gives 
tLtiiu  quite  another  sight,  taste,  and  judgment  of  things 
than  their  educational  or  traditional  knowledge  afforded 
them.  This  is  the  beginning  of  the  new  creation  of  God, 
and  thus  it  is  we  come  to  be  new  creatures. 

And  we  are  bold  to  declare  there  is  no  other  way  like 
this  by  which  people  can  come  into  Christ,  or  be  true 
Christians,  or  receive  the  advantage  that  comes  by  the 
death  and  sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Where 
fore  we  say,  and  upon  good  authority,  even  that  of  our 
own  experience,  as  wrell  as  that  of  the  Scriptures  of  Truth, 
Christ  will  prove  no  saving  sacrifice  for  them  who  refuse 
to  obey  Him  for  their  example.  They  that  reject  the  gift, 
deny  the  Giver  instead  of  themselves  for  the  Giver's  sake. 
Oh  that  people  w'cre  wise,  that  they  would  consider  their 
latter  end,  and  the  things  that  make  for  the  peace  thereof ! 
Why  should  they  perish  in  a  vain  hope  of  life,  while  death 
reigns;  of  living  with  God,  who  live  not  to  Him,  nor  walk 
with  Him  ?  Awake  thou  that  sleepcst  in  thy  sin,  or  at 
best  in  thy  self-righteousness  !  Awake,  I  say,  and  Christ 
shall  give  thee  life!  For  He  is  the  Lord  from  heaven,  the 
quickening  Spirit,  who  quickens  us  by  his  Spirit,  if  we  do 
not  resist  it  and  quench  it  by  our  disobedience,  but  receive, 
love,  and  obey  it  in  all  the  holy  leadings  and  teachings  of 
it.  Rom.  viii.  14,  15.  To  which  Holy  Spirit  I  commend 
my  reader,  that  he  may  the  better  see  where  he  is,  and  also 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  435 

come  to  the  true  belief  and  advantage  of  the  doings  and 
sufferings  of  our  dear  and  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  who  saves  from  the  power  and  pollution,  as  well  as 
guilt  of  sin,  all  those  who  hear  his  knocks,  and  open  the 
door  of  their  hearts  to  Him,  that  He  may  come  in  and  work 
a  real  and  thorough  reformation  in  and  for  them. 

William  Pcnn  in  1C 97  paid  a  visit  to  Peter  the  Great, 
Czar  of  Russia.  This  extraordinary  man  took  the  singu 
lar  resolution  of  visiting  several  parts  of  Europe  in  person, 
for  the  purpose  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  arts,  which 
were  but  very  imperfectly  understood  in  his  own  country. 
Having  resided  for  some  time  in  Holland,  where  he  worked 
in  one  of  the  dock-yards,  at  ship-building,  he  went  to  Eng 
land,  and  engaged  in  a  similar  employment  at  Deptford. 

The  Czar  became  so  much  interested  in  Friends,  that 
he  sometimes  attended  their  meetings  at  Deptford.  William 
Penn  afterwards  wrote  him  the  following  letter : 


"  William  Penn  to  tlie  Czar  of  Muscovy. 

"  It  was  a  profound  respect,  and  not  a  vain  curiosity, 
great  Czar,  which  brought  me  twice  to  wait  upon  thee. 
My  desire  was,  and  is,  that  as  God  Almighty  has  distin 
guished  thee  above  so  many  millions  of  thy  fellow-creatures, 
so  thou  mayest  distinguish  thyself  above  them  by  an  ex 
traordinary  zeal  for  piety  and  charity,  which  are  the  two 
legs  the  Christian  religion  stands  upon  ;  and  where  they 
are  wanting  or  defective,  it  must  needs  fall  in  the  streets 
to  the  scorn  and  triumph  of  the  heathen.  May  thy  ex 
ample  show  thee  to  be  as  good  as  great,  that  thou  mayst 
bear  his  image  by  whom  kings  reign  and  princes  decree 


4:36  PASSAGES    FKOM    THE    LIFE 

justice,  which,  without  goodness,  power  itself  can  never 
do.  Optimus  was,  of  old,  preferred  to  Maximus  among 
heathen  princes,  much  more  it  should  be  among  Christian 
emperors.  If  thou  wouldst  rule  well,  thou  must  rule  for 
God ;  and  to  do  that,  thou  must  be  ruled  by  Him  who 
has  given  to  kings  his  grace  to  command  themselves  and 
their  subjects,  and  to  the  people  the  grace  to  obey  God 
and  their  kings.  Know,  great  Czar,  and  take  it  with 
thee,  as  one  part  of  the  collection  of  knowledge  thou  art 
making  in  this  unexampled  travel,  that  't  is  in  this  king 
dom  of  England  that  God  has  visited  and  touched  the 
hearts  of  a  people,  above  forty  years  ago,  by  the  holy 
light  and  grace  of  his  Son  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
By  which  their  minds  have  been  turned  from  false  wor 
ship  and  evil  living  to  worship  God,  who  is  a  Spirit,  in 
and  by  his  own  Spirit,  and  be  led  by  it  in  their  conversa 
tion,  that  they  may  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  it  among  men 
to  his  praise  that  has  called  them.  They  are  an  inward 
and  retired  people,  that  dare  not  conform  themselves  to 
vain  inventions  and  fashions  of  the  world,  either  in  re 
ligious  or  civil  conversation,  but  live  and  act  as  believing 
that  God  seeth  them  in  all  they  do,  and  will  judge  them 
according  to  what  they  do.  They  teach  that  men  must 
be  holy,  or  they  cannot  be  happy — that  they  should  be 
few  in  words,  peaceable  in  life,  suffer  wrongs,  love  enemies, 
deny  themselves — without  which,  faith  is  false,  worship 
formality,  and  religion  hypocrisy.  Yet  they  are  an  in 
dustrious  people  in  their  generation,  and  though  against 
superfluity,  yet  lovers  of  ingenuity.  It  was  in  their  name 
five  of  us  came  to  salute  thee,  who  wish  thou  mayst  have 
an  eye  to  this  divine  principle  of  life  and  light  in  the  soul, 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  437 

a  measure  of  which  is  given  to  thee  and  all  men  to  profit 
with.  That  by  it  piety,  wisdom,  and  charity  may  dwell 
with  thee,  and  thou  mayst  be  qualified  to  serve  the  mighty 
God  suitable  to  the  great  opportunities  He  hath  put  into 
thy  hands,  so  prays  a  little  man,  but  thy  great  friend  and 
well-wisher,  WILLIAM  PENN." 

"  Seventh  mo.,  2,  '98." 

William  Penn  appears  to  have  spent  much  time,  after 
his  release  from  seclusion  by  order  of  King  William,  in 
travelling  through  England  and  Ireland  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  There  was  in  the  public  mind  a  reaction  in  his 
favor  and  he  rose  higher  than  ever  in  the  estimation  of 
his  friends. 

It  is  said  of  some  of  his  meetings,  in  the  Life  prefacing 
his  writings,  "  The  people  flocked  in  abundantly,  and  his 
testimony  to  the  Truth,  answering  to  that  of  God  in  their 
consciences,  was  assented  to  by  many." 

Thos.  Story  speaking  of  the  Half-Yearly  Meeting  at 
Dublin,  says,  "  Great  was  the  resort  of  people  of  all  ranks 
and  professions  to  our  meetings,  chiefly  on  account  of  our 
friend  William  Penn,  who  was  ever  furnished  by  the  Truth 
with  matter  fully  to  answer  their  expectations.  Many  of 
the  clergy  were  there,  and  the  people,  with  one  voice,  spoke 
well  of  what  they  heard." 

In  other  places  in  Ireland,  William  Penn  and  the  Friends 
who  accompanied  him  had  large  meetings  attended  by 
people  of  all  ranks.  During  this  journey,  Thomas  Story 
says  that  some  members  of  his  own  Society,  "  filled  with 
envy  and  unwisely  emulating  that  glory  and  dignity  the 
Lord  was  pleased  to  put  upon  William  Penn  for  the  ex- 
37* 


438  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

latation  of  his  own  holy  name,  had  made  very  unworthy 
and  unchristian  attempts  against  his  character  in  his 
absence,  and  even  in  the  Yearly  Meeting,  to  the  great 
grief  of  all  the  right-minded  among  them."  Again  he 
says,  "  On  the  First  day  following  we  had  another  very 
large  meeting  there,  and  the  Lord  was  mightily  with 
William  Penn  that  day,  clothing  him  with  majesty,  holy 
zeal,  and  divine  wisdom,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  Friends 
there,  even  increasing  that  unsought  praise  which  some 
did  much  grudge  him,  who  by  attempting  his  character 
unjustly  greatly  lost  their  own." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  439 


XXIII. 

ABOUT  fifteen  years  had  now  passed  away  since  Wil 
liam  Ponn  left  his  province  in  America.  In  the  year 
to  which  we  have  arrived,  he  found  his  way  open  to  re 
turn.  On  his  former  visit,  we  may  remember,  he  left  his 
family  behind ;  but  he  now  resolved  upon  taking  his  wife 
and  children  with  him ;  expecting  in  all  probability  to 
spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  Pennsylvania, 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  (1699,)  and  probably  while 
he  was  preparing  for  his  American  voyage,  he  wrote  a 
valuable  compendium  of  Christian  morality,  in  the  form 
of  "  ADVICE  TO  HIS  CHILDREN,"  relating  to  their  civil  and 
religious  conduct,  from  which  the  following  characteristic 
passages  are  taken. 

"  I  will  begin  with  that  which  is  the  beginning  of  all 
true  wisdom  and  happiness,  the  holy  fear  of  God. 

"  Children,  fear  God ;  that  is  to  say,  have  an  holy  awe 
upon  your  minds  to  avoid  that  which  is  evil  and  a  strict 
care  to  embrace  and  do  that  which  is  good.  The  measure 
and  standard  of  which  knowledge  and  duty  is  the  light  of 
Christ  in  your  consciences,  by  which,  as  in  John  iii.  20,  21, 
you  may  clearly  sec  if  your  deeds,  aye,  and  your  words 
and  thoughts,  too,  arc  wrought  in  God  or  not;  for  thoughts 
are  the  deeds  of  the  mind  for  which  you  must  be  judged. 
And  as  you  come  to  obey  this  blessed  light  in  its  holy  con- 


440  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

victions,  it  will  lead  you  out  of  the  world's  dark  and  de 
generate  ways  and  works,  and  bring  you  unto  Christ's 
way  and  life,  and  to  be  of  the  number  of  his  true,  self- 
denying  followers,  to  take  up  your  cross  for  his  sake,  who 
bore  his  for  yours. 

"  Christ  is  called  light  because  He  gives  man  a  sight  of 
his  sin.  And  lie  is  also  called  the  quickening  Spirit.  It 
is  the  great  end,  and  benefit,  and  blessing  of  the  coming 
of  Christ,  viz.,  the  shining  forth  of  this  light  and  pouring 
forth  of  this  Spirit.  God  sent  his  Son  to  bless  us  in  turn 
ing  us  from  the  evil  of  our  ways ;  therefore  have  a  care 
of  evil,  for  that  turns  you  away  from  God  ;  and  wherein 
you  have  done  evil,  do  so  no  more ;  but  be  ye  turned,  my 
dear  children,  from  evil  in  thought,  as  well  as  in  word  and 
deed,  or  that  will  turn  you  from  God  your  Creator,  and 
Christ,  whom  He  has  given  you  for  your  Redeemer,  who 
redeems  and  saves  his  people  from  their  sins,  not  in  their 
sins.  This  ho.ly,  divine  principle  is  called  grace,  too.  And 
why  grace  ?  Because  it  is  God's  love  and  not  our  desert, 
his  good-will,  his  kindness.  '  lie  so  loved  the  world  that 
He  gave  his  only-begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  who 
soever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  ever 
lasting  life ; '  and  this  holy  Son  is  declared  in  John  i.  14, 
10  to  be  full  of  grace  and  truth,  and  that  of  his  grace  we 
receive  grace  for  grace,  that  is,  we  receive  of  Him  the  ful 
ness,  what  measure  of  grace  we  need. 

"  This  is  that  which  is  come  by  Christ,  and  a  measure 
of  this  light,  spirit,  grace,  and  truth  is  given  to  every  man 
and  woman  to  see  their  way  to  go  by. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  children,  this  Js  the  pearl  of  price ;  part 
with  all  for  it,  but  never  part  with  it  for  all  the  world. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  441 

Yea,  this  is  the  divine  and  incorruptible  seed  of  the  king 
dom,  of  which  all  truly  regenerate  men  and  women,  Chris 
tians  of  Christ's  making,  are  born.  Receive  it  into  your 
hearts,  give  it  room  there,  let  it  take  deep  root  in  you,  and 
you  will  be  fruitful  unto  God  in  every  good  word  and  work. 
As  you  take  heed  to  it  and  the  holy  enlightenings  and  mo 
tions  of  it,  you  will  have  a  perfect  discerning  of  the  spirit 
of  this  world,  in  all  its  appearances  in  yourselves  and 
others.  And  you  will  also  see  that  the  testimony  unto 
which  the  eternal  God  hath  brought  our  poor  Friends,  as 
to  religion,  worship,  truth-speaking,  ministry,  plainness, 
simplicity,  and  moderation  in  apparel,  furniture,  food, 
salutation,  as  you  may  read  in  their  writings,  from  the 
very  beginning,  is  a  true  and  heavenly  testimony  of  his 
mind,  will,  work,  and  dispensation  in  this  last  age  of  the 
world  to  mankind,  being  the  revival  of  true  primitive 
Christianity  ;  where  your  most  tender  father  prays  that 
you  may  be  kept,  and  charges  you  to  watch  that  you  may 
be  preserved  in  the  faith  and  practice  of  that  blessed  tes 
timony  ;  and  count  it  no  small  mercy  from  God  and  honor 
to  you  that  you  come  of  parents  who  counted  nothing  too 
dear  or  near  to  part  with,  nor  too  great  to  do  or  suffer, 
that  they  might  approve  themselves  to  God,  and  testify 
their  love  to  his  most  precious  Truth  in  the  inward  parts 
in  their  generation. 

"Having  thus  expressed  myself  to  you,  my  dear  chil 
dren,  as  to  the  things  of  God,  his  Truth  and  kingdom,  I 
refer  you  to  his  light,  grace,  Spirit,  and  Truth  within  you, 
and  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  Truth  without  you,  which 
from  my  youth  I  loved  to  read,  and  were  ever  blessed  to 
me,  and  which  I  charge  you  to  read  daily ;  the  Old  Testa- 


4:42  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

mcnt  for  history  chiefly,  the  Psalms  for  meditation  and 
devotion,  the  prophets  for  comfort  and  hope,  but  especially 
the  JSTew  Testament  for  doctrine,  faith,  and  worship :  for 
they  were  given  forth  by  holy  men  of  God  in  divers  ages, 
as  they  were  moved  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  they  are  the 
declared  and  revealed  mind  and  will  of  the  holy  God  to 
mankind,  under  divers  dispensations,  and  they  are  cer 
tainly  able  to  make  the  man  of  God  perfect,  through  faith 
unto  salvation,  being  a  true  and  clear  testimony  to  the 
salvation  that  is  of  God,  through  Christ  the  second  Adam, 
the  light  of  the  world,  the  quickening  Spirit,  who  is  full 
of  grace  and  truth.  I  say,  having  thus  expressed  myself 
in  general,  I  shall  now  descend  to  particulars,  that  you 
may  more  directly  apply  what  I  have  said. 

"  I  will  begin  here,  also,  with  the  beginning  of  time,  the 
morning.  So  soon  as  you  wake,  retire  your  minds  into  a 
pure  silence  from  all  thoughts  and  ideas  of  worldly  things, 
and  iii  that  frame  wait  upon  God,  to  feel  his  good  pres 
ence,  to  lift  up  your  hearts  to  Him,  and  commit  your  whole 
self  into  his  blessed  care  and  protection.  Then  rise,  if 
well,  immediately ;  being  dressed,  read  a  chapter  or  more 
in  the  Scriptures,  and  afterwards  dispose  yourselves  for 
the  business  of  the  day,  ever  remembering  that  God  is 
present,  the  overseer  of  all  your  thoughts,  words,  and 
actions.  As  you  have  intervals  from  your  lawful  occa 
sions,  delight  to  step  home,  within  yourselves,  I  mean, 
and  commune  with  your  own  hearts  and  be  still.  This 
will  bear  you  up  against  all  temptations,  and  carry  you 
sweetly  and  evenly  through  your  day's  business,  support 
ing  you  under  disappointments,  and  moderating  your  sat 
isfaction  in  success  and  prosperity.  The  evening  being 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  443 

come,  read  again  the  holy  Scripture,  and  have  your  timeg 
of  retirement  before  you  close  your  eyes,  as  in  the  morn 
ing,  that  so  the  Lord  may  be  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of 
every  day  of  your  lives.  And  if  God  bless  you  with  fam 
ilies,  remember  good  Joshua's  resolution,  '  But  as  for  me 
and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord.' 

"  In  conversation,  mark  well  what  others  say  or  do,  and 
hide  your  own  mind,  at  least  till  last.  A  just  observance 
and  reflection  upon  men  and  things  give  wisdom ;  these 
are  the  great  books  of  learning  seldom  read.  Interrupt 
none,  anticipate  none  :  '  Be  quick  to  hear,  slow  to  speak.' 
Affect  not  words,  but  matter,  and  chiefly  to  be  pertinent 
and  plain.  Truest  eloquence  is  plainest,  and  brief  speak 
ing  is  the  best.  Return  no  answer  to  anger,  unless  with 
much  meekness,  which  often  turns  it  away,  but  rarely 
make  replies,  less  rejoinders,  for  these  add  fuel  to  the  fire. 
It  is  a  wrong  time  to  vindicate  yourselves,  the  true  ear 
being  then  never  open  to  hear  it. 

"  Have  but  few  books,  but  let  them  be  well  chosen  and 
well  read,  whether  of  religious  or  civil  subjects.  Shun 
fantastic  opinions  ;  measure  both  religion  and  learning  by 
practice.  Heading  yourselves  and  nature,  in  the  dealings 
and  conduct  of  men,  is  the  truest  human  wisdom.  The 
spirit  of  a  man  knows  the  things  of  man,  and  more  true 
knowledge  comes  by  meditation  and  just  reflection  than 
by  reading. 

"  Keep  close  to  the  meetings  of  God's  people  ;  and  wait 
diligently  at  them,  to  feel  the  heavenly  life  in  your  hearts, 
Look  for  that  more  than  words  in  ministry,  and  you  will 
profit  most.  Above  all,  look  to  the  Lord,  but  despise  not 


444  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

instruments,  man  or  woman,  young1  or  old,  rich  or  poor, 
learned  or  unlearned. 

"  Avoid  discontented  persons,  unless  to  inform  or  re- 
prove  them.  Abhor  detraction,  the  sin  of  fallen  angels, 
and  the  worst  of  fallen  men.  Excuse  faults  in  others, 
own  them  in  yourselves,  and  forgive  them  against  your 
selves,  as  you  would  have  your  heavenly  Father  and 
Judge  forgive  you. 

"  Love  one  another.  Live  as  near  as  you  can,  visit 
often,  correspond  oftcncr,  .and  communicate  with  kind 
hearts  to  one  another,  in  proportion  to  what  the  Lord 
gives  you ;  and  do  not  be  close,  nor  hoard  up  from  one 
another  as  if  you  tad  no  right  or  claim  in  one  another, 
and  did  not  descend  of  one  most  tender  father  and  mother. 
What  I  write  is  to  yours,  as  well  as  you,  if  God  gives  you 
children.  And  in  case  a  prodigal  should  ever  appear 
among  them,  make  not  his  folly  an  excuse  to  be  strange 
or  close,  and  so  to  expose  such  an  one  to  more  evil. 

"Love  silence,  even  in  the  mind;  for  thoughts  are  to 
that,  as  words  to  the  body,  troublesome  ;  much  speaking-, 
as  much  thinking,  spends,  and  in  many  thoughts,  as  well 
as  words,  there  is  sin.  True  silence  is  the  rest  of  the 
mind,  and  is  to  the  spirit  what  sleep  is  to  the  body, 
nourishment  and  refreshment. 

"  Meddle  not  with  government ;  never  speak  of  it,  let 
others  say  or  do  as  they  please.  But  read  such  books  of 
law  as  relate  to  the  office  of  a  justice,  a  coroner,  sheriff, 
and  constable ;  also  the  doctor  and  student ;  some  book 
of  clerkship,  and  a  treatise  of  wills,  to  enable  you  about 
your  own  private  business  only,  or  a  poor  neighbor's. 
For  it  is  a  charge  I  leave  with  you  and  yours,  meddle  not 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  445 

with  the  public,  neither  business  nor  money;  but  under- 
stand  how  to  avoid  it,  and  defend  yourselves,  upon  occa 
sion,  against  it.  For  much  knowledge  brings  sorrow,  and 
much  doing  more.  Therefore,  know  God,  know  your 
selves  ;  love  home,  know  your  own  business  and  mind 
it,  and  you  have  more  time  and  peace  than  your  neigh 
bors. 

"  If  you  incline  to  marry,  then  marry  your  inclination 
rather  than  your  interest ;  I  mean  what  you  love,  rather 
than  what  is  rich.  But  love  for  virtue,  temper,  education, 
and  person,  before  wealth  or  quality,  and  be  sure  you  are 
beloved  again.  In  all  which,  be  not  hasty,  but  serious ; 
lay  it  before  the  Lord,  proceed  in  his  fear,  and  be  you  well 
advised.  Seek  the  Lord  for  one  another  ;  wait  upon  Him 
together,  morning  and  evening,  in  his  holy  fear,  which 
will  renew  and  confirm  your  love  and  covenant ;  give 
way  to  nothing  that  would  in  the  least  violate  it ;  use  al^ 
means  of  true  endearment,  that  you  may  recommend  and 
please  one  another ;  remembering  that  your  relation  and 
union  is  the  figure  of  Christ's  to  his  church  ;  therefore, 
let  the  authority  of  love  only  bear  sway  your  whole  life. 

"  If  God  give  you  children,  love  them  with  wisdom, 
correct  them  with  affection.  Punish  them  more  by  their 
understandings  than  the  rod,  and  show  them  the  folly, 
shame,  and  undutifulness  of  their  faults  rather  with  a 
grieved  than  an  angry  countenance,  and  you  will  sooner 
affect  their  natures,  and  with  a  nobler  sense,  than  a  servile 
and  rude  chastisement  can  produce.  Breed  your  children 
yourselves  ;  I  mean  as  to  their  morals,  and  be  their  bishops 
and  teachers  in  the  principles  of  conversation ;  as  they 
are  instructed,  so  they  are  likely  to  be  qualified,  and  your 
38 


446  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

posterity  by  the  precepts  and  examples  which  they  receive 
from  yours. 

"Distrust  is  of  the  nature  of  jealousy,  and  must  be 
warily  entertained  upon  good  grounds.  Yet  I  have  often 
been  whispered  to  in  myself  of  persons  and  things,  at  first 
sight  and  motion,  that  hardly  ever  failed  to  be  true ;  though 
by  neglecting  the  sense,  or  suffering  myself  to  be  argued 
or  importuned  from  it,  I  have  more  than  once  failed  of  my 
expectation.  Have  therefore  a  most  tender  and  nice  re 
gard  to  those  first  and  unpremeditated  sensations. 

"  Be  humble :  it  becomes  a  creature  that  lives  not  of 
itself,  but  breathes  in  another's  air  with  another's  breath, 
and  is  accountable  for  every  moment  of  time,  and  can  call 
nothing  its  own,  but  is  absolutely  a  tenant  at  will  of  the 
great  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth.  The  fear  and  love  of  God 
beget  humility,  and  humility  fits  you  for  God  and  men. 
tYou  cannot  step  well  amiss,  if  this  virtue  dwell  richly  in 
you;  for  then  God  will  teach  you.  The  humble  He  teach- 
eth  his  ways,  and  they  are  all  pleasant  and  peaceable  to 
his  children. 

"From  humility  springs  meekness.  It  seems  to  be  hu 
mility  perfectly  digested,  and  from  a  virtue  become  a  na 
ture.  A  meek  man  is  one  that  is  not  easily  provoked,  yet 
easily  grieved ;  not  peevish  or  testy,  but  soft,  gentle,  and 
inoffensive.  Oh,  blessed  will  you  be,  my  dear  children,  if 
this  grace  adorn  you  ! 

"Patience  is  an  effect  of  a- meek  spirit  and  flows  from 
it.  Patience  inquires,  deliberates,  and  brings  to  a  mature 
judgment.  Through  your  civil  as  well  as  Christian  course, 
you  cannot  act  wisely  and  safely  without  it. 

"  Show  mercy  whenever  it  is  in  your  power,  that  is,  for- 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  447 

give ,  pity,  and  help,  for  so  it  signifies.  Mercy  is  one  of 
the  attributes  of  God.  It  is  exalted  in  Scripture  above 
all  his  works,  arid  is  a  noble  part  of  his  image  in  man. 
Wherefore,  I  charge  you,  oppress  no  body,  man  or  beast. 
Take  no  advantage  upon  the  unhappy,  pity  the  afflicted, 
make  their  case  your  own,  and  that  of  their  wives  and 
poor  innocent  children  the  condition  of  yours,  and  you 
cannot  want  sympathy,  forgiveness,  nor  a  disposition  to 
help  and  succor  them  to  your  ability. 

"Avoid  that  great  sin  of  needless  expense  on  your  per 
sons  and  on  your  houses,  while  the  poor  are  hungry  and 
naked.  Let  the  moving  passage,  Matt.  xxv.  35  to  the  end, 
live  in  your  minds :  '  I  was  hungry  and  thirsty,  and  naked, 
sick  and  in  prison,  and  you  administered  unto  me,  and  the 
blessing  that  followed  :'  also  what  He  said  to  another  sort, 
'I  was  hungry  and  thirsty,  and  naked,  and  sick,  and  in 
prison,  and  you  administered  not  unto  me ;'  for  a  dreadful 
sentence  follows  to  the  hard-hearted  world. 

"  Liberality  or  bounty  is  a  noble  quality  in  man,  enter 
tained  of  few,  yet  praised  of  all.  Wheresoever,  therefore, 
my  dear  children,  liberality  is  required  of  you,  God  en 
abling  you,  sow  not  sparingly  nor  grudgingly,  but  with  a 
cheerful  mind,  and  you  shall  not  go  without  your  reward; 
though  that  ought  not  to  be  your  motive.  But  avoid  os 
tentation,  for  that  is  using  virtue  to  vanity,  which  will  run 
you  to  profuseness,  and  that  to  want;  which  begets  greed 
iness,  and  that  avarice,  the  contrary  extreme.  As  men 
may  go  westward  till  they  come  east,  and  travel  till  they 
and  those  they  left  behind  them  stand  antipodes,  up  and 
down, 

"Justice  or  righteousness  is  another  attribute  of  God,  of 


448  PASSAGES    FROM     THE    LIFE 

large  extent  in  the  life  and  duty  of  man.  Be  just  there 
fore  in  all  things  to  all.  To  God  as  your  Creator,  render 
to  Him  that  which  is  his,  your  heart,  for  that  acknowledg 
ment  He  has  reserved  to  himself,  by  which  only  you  are 
entitled  to  the  comforts  of  this  and  a  better  life.  And 
if  He  has  your  hearts,  you  have  Him  for  your  treasure, 
and  with  Him  all  things  requisite  to  your  felicity.  Ren 
der  also  to  Coesar  that  which  is  his,  lawful  subjection;  not 
for  fear  only,  but  conscience'  sake.  To  parents,  a  filial  love 
and  obedience.  To  one  another,  natural  affection.  To 
all  people,  in  doing  as  you  would  be  done  by.  Hurt  no 
man's  name  or  person.  Covet  no  man's  property  in  any 
sort. 

"I  have  said  but  little  to  you  of  distributing  justice,  or 
being  just  in  power  or  government,  for  I  should  desire 
you  may  never  be  concerned  therein,  unless  it  were  upon 
your  own  principles,  and  then  the  less  the  better,  unless 
God  require  it  from  you.  But  if  it  ever  be  your  lot,  know 
no  man  after  the  flesh ;  know  neither  rich  nor  poor,  great 
nor  small,  nor  kindred,  nor  stranger ;  but  judge  the  cause 
according  to  your  understanding  and  conscience,  and  that 
upon  deliberate  inquiry  and  information. 

"  Integrity  is  a  great  and  commendable  virtue.  A  man 
of  integrity  is  a  true  man,  a  bold  man,  and  a  steady  man. 
He  shines  brightest  in  the  fire,  and  his  friend  hears  of  him 
most  when  he  most  needs  him.  He  runs  with  truth,  and 
not  with  the  times  ;  with  right,  and  not  with  might. 

"  Gratitude  or  thankfulness  is  another  virtue  of  great 
lustre,  and  so  esteemed  with  God  and  all  good  men.  It  is 
indeed  a  noble  sort  of  justice,  and  might,  in  a  sense,  be  re 
ferred  as  a  branch  to  that  head,  with  this  difference,  that 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  4:49 

since  benefits  exceed  justice,  the  tie  is  very  strong  to  be 
grateful,  and  consequently  there  is  something  exceedingly 
base  and  reproachful  in  ingratitude.  It  is  an  evangelical 
virtue,  and  works  as  faith  does,  only  by  love.  In  this  it 
exactly  resembles  a  Christian  state.  <  We  are  not  under 
the  law,  but  under  grace,'  and  it  is  by  grace  and  not  by 
merit  'that  we  are  saved.'  But  are  our  obligations  the 
less  to  God,  that  he  heaps  his  favors  so  undeservedly  upon 
us  ?  Surely  no. 

"  Diligence  is  another  virtue  useful  and  laudable  among 
men.  It  belongs  to  you,  throughout  your  whole  man ; 
be  no  more  sauntering  in  your  minds  than  in  your  bodies. 
Shun  diversions,  think  only  of  the  present  business  till 
that  be  done.  Be  busy  to  purpose,  for  a  busy  man  and  a 
man  of  business  are  two  different  things.  Consider  your 
end  well,  suit  your  means  to  it,  and  then  diligently  em 
ploy  them,  and  you  arrive  where  you  would  be,  with 
God's  blessing.  Temperance  I  must  earnestly  recom 
mend  to  you  throughout  the  whole  course  of  your 
life;  it  is  numbered  amongst  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 
That  which  keeps  the  body  low  makes  the  spirit 
clear,  as  silence  makes  it  strong.  As  in  diet  so. in  ap 
parel,  observe,  I  charge  you,  an  exemplary  plainness. 
Choose  your  clothes  for  their  usefulness  not  the  fashion, 
and  for  covering  and  not  fineiy,  or  to  please  a  vain  mind 
in  ^yourselves  or  others.  They  are  fallen  souls  that  think 
clothes  can  give  beauty  to  man.  Bound  your  desires, 
learn  your  wills  subjection,  take  Christ  for  your  example 
as  well  as  guide.  It  was  He  who  led  and  taught  a  life  of 
faith  in  Providence,  and  told  his  disciples  the  danger  of 
the  cares  and  pleasures  of  this  world.  His  sermon  upon 
33*  2D 


450  PASSAGES    FHQM    THE    LIFE 

the  mount  is  one  continued  Divine  authority  in  favor  of 
universal  temperance. 

"  I  will  close  with  this  one  most  comprehensive  passage 
of  the  apostle,  '  Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto  all 
men,  for  the  Lord  is  at  hand.'  Let  this  excellent,  this 
home  and  close  sentence  live  in  your  minds :  let  it  ever 
dwell  upon  your  spirits,  my  beloved  children,  and  influence 
all  your  actions,  aye,  your  affections  and  thoughts.  It  is 
a  aoble  measure,  sufficient  to  regulate  the  whole.  They 
that  have  it  are  easy  as  well  as  safe.  No  extreme  pre 
vails;  the  world  is  kept  at  arm's  end,  and  such  have 
power  over  their  own  spirits,  which  gives  them  the  truest 
enjoyment  of  themselves  and  what  they  have." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENX.  451 


XXIV. 

AS  the  object  of  this  work  is  to  give  an  account  of  the 
life  and  religious  labors  of  William  Penn  rather  than 
the  history  of  his  province,  but  little  mention  has  been 
made  of  the   events   which    occurred    there    during    his 
absence.     Some  notice  of  these  will  now  be  in  place. 

After  the  recall  of  Governor  Blackwell,  in  the  Twelfth 
month,  1089,  the  charge  of  the  government  again  devolved 
upon  Thomas  Lloyd,  who,  although  a  man  of  excellent 
abilities  and  unquestionable  integrity,  docs  not  appear  to 
have  possessed  either  the  talents  or  the  influence  of  William 
Penn.  Difficulties  and  jealousies  arose  among  the  mem 
bers  of  the  government.  The  representatives  from  the 
province  and  those  from  the  territories  or  three  lower 
counties,  being  supposed  to  have  separate  interests  to 
promote,  could  not  cordially  unite.  The  proprietary  had 
taken  abundance  of  pains  to  form  an  intimate  connection 
between  the  province  and  territories,  both  in  the  legisla 
tive  and  executive  capacities.  But  the  members  from  the 
territories,  seeing  themselves  likely  to  be  outnumbered  by 
those  from  the  province,  and  consequently  thrown  into  the 
minority  upon  all  questions  in  which  their  separate  interests 
were  involved,  demanded  concessions  for  their  security, 
which  were  considered  unreasonable,  and  consequently 
refused.  These  jealousies  at  length,  in  the  early  part  of 
1691,  rose  to  such  a  height  as  to  occasion  a  rupture  be- 


4:52  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

twccn  them,  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  two 
separate  governments.  To  this  separation  William  Penn 
gave  a  very  reluctant  assent,  It  may  fairly  be  consid 
ered  as -a  consequence  of  his  absence,  for  we  find  that  ho 
retained  the  confidence  and  affection  of  both  parties.  He 
had  penetration  enough  to  discover  the  ill  consequences 
likely  to  result  both  to  his  interest  and  theirs  from  these 
animosities.  The  unpleasant  news  reached  him  soon  after 
the  commencement  of  his  troubles  arising  from  the  accu 
sation  of  Fuller.  He  did  not  fail  to  npprisc  his  friends  in 
America  of  his  apprehensions  on  their  account,  and  to 
urge  upon  them  the  necessity  of  cultivating  a  better 
temper ;  but  the  people  of  the  territories  appear  to  have 
been  too  jealous  of  their  rights  and  too  tenacious  of  their 
opinions  to  be  diverted  from  their  purpose  by  his  influence 
or  authority  while  residing  on  the  other  side  of  the  At 
lantic. 

In  1691  the  province  of  Pennsylvania  was  agitated  in 
a  manner  which  must  have  caused  greater  pain  to  the  sen 
sitive  mind  of  William  Penn  than  the  dissensions  between 
the  province  and  territories.  The  latter  arose  from  ques 
tions  of  worldly  interest;  but  the  new  disturbance  arose 
in  the  bosom  of  his  own  Society.  George  Keith,  who  for 
between  twenty  and  thirty  years  had  been  an  approved 
member  and  minister  in  the  Society,  became  about  that 
time  a  subject  of  much  concern  to  his  friends.  He  began 
to  differ  with  them  on  points  of  discipline,  proposing  alter- 
aliens  which  Friends  were  not  free  to  adopt,  Finding  his 
influence  in  the  Society  less  than  he  seems  to  have  sup 
posed  due  to  his  talents  and  service,  he  gave  way  to  a 
captious  and  acrimonious  spirit.  He  began  to  question 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  453 

the  soundness  of  the  ministers  on  some  doctrinal  points, 
and  falling-  under  the  government  of  his  passions  rather 
than  his  understanding,  indulged  in  harsh  and  vituperative 
language  towards  Friends  of  the  fairest  character. 

This  opposition  to  Friends  was  not  confined  to  questions 
of  doctrine  or  discipline,  but  extended  to  the  measures  of 
civil  government.  A  large  part  of  the  original  settlers  in 
Pennsylvania  being  of  the  same  religious  profession  with 
the  founder,  many  of  the  executive  and  judicial  offices  were 
exercised  by  members  of  this  Society.  George  Keith 
indulged  his  spleen  by  representing  the  conduct  of  these 
Friends  in  bringing  robbers  to  justice  as  a  violation  of 
their  peace  principles.  His  opposition  to  the  measures 
and  officers  of  the  government  rendered  him  at  length  an 
object  of  judicial  inquiry.  He  and  another  were  presented 
by  the  grand  jury  of  Philadelphia  as  the  authors  of  a 
defamatory  publication ;  for  which,  on  conviction,  they 
were  fined  five  pounds  each,  but  the  fines  were  not  levied. 

News  of  the  disturbances  occasioned  by  him  and  his 
party  were  soon  carried  to  the  mother  country  ;  and  those 
who  were  inimical  to  Friends,  the  province,  or  the  propri 
etary  took  care  to  circulate  them  with  the  usual  exaggera 
tions.  The  account  of  his  trial  was  circulated  with  such 
coloring  as  to  give  it  the  appearance  of  a  religious  perse 
cution.  It  was  industriously  reported  at  court,  Westmin 
ster  Hall,  and  the  Parliament  house,  and  excited  much 
odium  against  William  Penn  and  the  Society  of  Friends. 
It  was  luid  hold  of  as  an  evidence  of  their  unfitness  for 
the  exercise  of  political  power,  and  William  Penn  himself 
docs  not  appear  to  have  approved  of  this  prosecution.  The 
magistrates  published  a  declaration  exculpating  themselves 


454  PASSAGES    FHOM    THE    LIFE 

from  the  charge  of  religious  persecution,  showing-  that  they 
had  not  proceeded  against  George  Keith  and  his  adherents- 
without  ample  provocation,  and  giving  an  opinion  that  such 
conduct,  if  not  restrained,  tended  to  sedition  and  the  sub 
version  of  the  existing  government. 

Although  King  William  seemed  to  have  entertained  a 
friendship  for  William  Perm,  yet  the  general  complexion 
of  his  court  was  averse  to  the  adherents  of  James;  and 
this  aversion  to  the  political  friends  of  the  exiled  monarch 
would  naturally  extend  to  his  personal  friends  also,  of 
which  number  William  Penn  was  avowedly  one.  This 
circumstance,  together  with  the  exaggerated  reports  which 
were  circulated  respecting  the  disorders  and  maladminis 
tration  existing  in  the  province  and  territories,  prevailed 
with  the  king  and  council  to  adopt  the  resolution  of  depriv 
ing  William  Perm  of  his  authority  there.  In  pursuance 
of  this  resolution,  a  commission  was  issued,  bearing  date 
the  21st  of  October,  1602,  to  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Governor 
of  New  York,  authorizing  him  to  assume  the  government 
of  Pennsylvania  and  the  territories  thereto  belonging. 
This,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  was  a  simple  act  of 
power,  without  even  the  color  of  law  or  legal  procedure. 
In  the  commission  no  notice  was  taken  of  William  Penn 
or  the  charter  of  Charles  II. 

The  commission  of  Governor  Fletcher  was  not  received 
by  him  until  the  spring  of  the  following  year,  at  which 
time  he  notified  Thomas  Lloyd  of  his  appointment,  and 
soon  afterwards  repaired  to  Philadelphia  to  engage  in  the 
concerns  of  his  new  government.  Official  information  of 
the  change  was  not  given  to  the  constituted  authorities  of 
Pennsylvania  by  the  king  yet  upon  the  arrival  of  Colonel 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXN.  455 

Fletcher  the  government  was  surrendered  to  him  without 
opposition  ;  but  Friends  who  held  the  offices  of  magistrates 
generally  refused  to  accept  from  him  the  renewal  of  their 
commissions.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  government  at 
home  gave  William  Penn  notice  of  their  proceedings,  and 
ho  was  probably  ignorant  of  them  till  the  information 
reached  him  from  the  western  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

The  administration  of  Governor  Fletcher  was  not 
marked  by  any  event  of  such  permanent  interest  as  to 
demand  particular  recital.  He  apipcars  to  have  been,  or 
at  least  to  have  become,  convinced  that  the  exclusion  of 
William  Penn  from  the  government  was  an  unjust  assump 
tion  of  power,  and  that  his  own  exercise  of  that  authority 
was  likely  to  be  of  very  short  duration. 

In  the  Twelfth  month,  1094,  William  Penn  wrote  to 
Robert  Turner  at  Philadelphia  : 

"  I  do  beseech  thee  by  our  ancient  acquaintance,  by  thy 
gravity  and  age  in  the  truth,  thy  love  for  the  poor  country, 
and,  above  all,  for  the  truth's  sake,  to  be  the  means  of  a 
better  understanding  among  you  thereaway,  both  as  to 
church  and  state.  The  more  I  hear  of  your  animosities, 
the  sad  effects  of  them  upon  the  place,  the  contempt  it 
brings  upon  the  country,  and  the  irreparable  injury  it  is 
to  me  and  my  poor  children,  yea,  upon  yourselves  and 
posterity,  mcthinks  should  prevail.  I  can  say  no  more, 
only  my  love  to  thcc  and  thine  and  son  and  daughter/and 
entreat'  George  Keith,  with  my  love,  by  the  same  motives, 
in  my  name,  to  the  same  end  and  purpose ;  and  God  Al 
mighty  modify  and  dispose  all  hearts  to  the  ancient,  ten 
der,  b'essed  unity,  that  his  peace  may  be  with  you,  and 


•156  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

your  enemies  may  not,  as  now  they  do,  triumph  over  yon 
all  and  the  holy  profession  you  make.  I  am  the  more 
earnest  with  you  because  I  am  thought  by  several  to  have 
too  much  encouraged  your  George  Keith,  etc.,  by  my  let 
ters.  I  am  for  patience,  forbearance,  long-suffering,  and 
all  true  moderation ;  but  I  abhor  contention,  doubtful  dis 
putations,  divisions,  etc.  Oh,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  may 
rule  and  overrule  our  spirits,  or  all  we  have  to  say  for  God 
can  never  glorify  Him  ;  it  is  his  own  that  praise  and  serve 
Him.  I  could  wish  my  own  concerns  there  were  in  a 
better  way,  but  of  that  no  more  now.  I  yet  hope  in  the 
Lord  to  sec  you  again,  and  that  not  long  first.  Farewell. 
"  Thy  real,  well-wishing  friend, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

In  the  year  1604  William  Perm  was  restored  to  the 
government,  of  which  he  had  been  unjustly  divested,  by 
letters-patent,  dated  the  20th  of  August.  In  this  docu 
ment  the  disorders  assigned  as  the  cause  of  the  royal  as 
sumption  of  authority  there  are  attributed  to  the  absence 
of  the  proprietor.  An  intimation,  at  least,  is  given  that 
his  prudence  and  authority,  if  present,  would  have  pre 
vented  the  disorders  complained  of. 

Thomas  Lloyd,  who  was  during  several  years  the  dep 
uty  of  William  Penn  in  the  government  of  Pennsylvania, 
having  died  in  the  Seventh  month,  1094,  the  appointment, 
upon  William  Pcnn's  restoration,  was  conferred  upon  Wil 
liam  Markham,  who  held  it  till  the  arrival  of  the  Gov 
ernor  himself  in  1G99.  Little  remarkable  seems  to  have 
occurred  under  his  administration  to  attract  the  historian's 
notice. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  457 

The  following-  passages  are  from  a  letter  from  William 
Perm  to  Friends  in  Pennsylvania : 

"BRISTOL,  24th  of  Ninth  month,  1G94. 

"DEAR  FRIENDS  AND  BRETHREN: — My  ancient  love 
without  reserve  salutes  and  embraces  you  in  the  sense  of 
that  which  has  been  the  root  of  our  fellowship,  and  of  all 
God's  people  since  the  world  began,  in  which  the  Lord 
preserve  us  to  the  end. 

"  By  this  you  will  understand  that  by  the  good  provi 
dence  of  God  I  am  restored  to  my  former  administration 
of  government,  which  I  hope  will  be  some  relief  and  com 
fort  to  you  that  have  been  exercised  by  the  late  interrup 
tion  upon  us.  That  things  are  not  just  now  put  into  that 
posture  as  you  may  reasonably  desire  you  must  not  take 
ann'ss,  for  neither  will  the  straitness  of  the  times  nor  the 
circumstances  we  are  under  to  the  lords  of  the  plantations 
permit  another  method  at  this  time.  And  as  soon  as  I 
can  make  my  way  to  that  which  is  as  much  my  inclination 
as  yours  (and  which  I  hope  to  do  in  a  short  time),  depend 
upon  it  I  shall  do  my  utmost  to  make  you  entirely  easy. 
Accept  this  part  of  the  goodness  of  God  and  wait  for  the 
rest. 

"  We  must  creep  where  we  cannot  go  ;  and  it  is  as  nec 
essary  for  us,  in  the  things  of  this  life,  to  be  wise  as  to  be 
innocent.  A  word  to  the  wise  is  enough.  My  return  will, 
I  hope,  put  an  end  to  all  our  civil  griefs,  which  at  least  I 
long  for,  not  for  any  worldly  advantage,  but  to  discharge  a 
conscience  to  God  and  to  you,  and  I  hope  that  shall  singly 
be  the  mark  and  rule  of  the  remainder  of  my  life,  both 
in  this  and  all  other  tilings  that  may  attend  it. 


458  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

"You  know,  I  believe,  as  well  as  I,  what  has  been  a 
main  obstacle  and  is  still,  of  which  S.  J.  can  be  more 
particular,  to  whom  I  have  opened  myself  that  he  may  do 
so  to  you,  and  whose  integrity,  I  think,  ought,  with  reason, 
to  be  unquestionable  to  us  both.  I  cannot  tell  you  here 
through  what  difficulties  we  are  come  where  we  arc,  arid  I 
hope  you  will  be  sensible  of  it,  and  from  thence  satisfied, 
if  not  pleased.  Pray  be  careful  that  the  charter  be  strictly 
observed,  and  vice  and  impiety  diligently  suppressed." 

In  the  Sixth  month,  1090,  William  Penn,  with  his  wife 
and  family,  embarked  for  Pennsylvania  in  the  ship  Canter 
bury  ;  and  from  on  board,  while  lying  at  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
he  addressed  a  farewell  epistle  to  his  friends  wherever  scat 
tered  in  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Holland,  Germany,  or 
other  parts  of  Europe,  of  which  the  following  is  part: 

"And  now,  my  dear  friends,  whom  I  know  and  love, 
and  you  also  whom  I  truly  love,  though  I  do  not  know 
personally,  since  it  has  pleased  the  good  and  all-wise  God 
to  order  my  course  from  you,  so  that  I  cannot  visit  you,  as 
I  have  often  desired  before  I  left  yon,  this  therefore  is  to  be 
my  brotherly  farewell  unto  you.  And  surely  my  soul  is 
bowed  in  humble  petitions  to  Israel's  God,  the  true  and  liv 
ing  and  powerful  God,  that  it  may  be  well  with  you  all  here 
and  forever.  Though  God  has  appeared  to  us,  and  given  us 
many  and  undeniable  testimonies  that  it  was  lie,  and  not  an 
other,  who  reached  our  hearts,  and  touched  our  consciences, 
and  brought  us  to  confession,  yea,  and  forsaking,  too,  of  that 
which  offended  Him,  in  great  measure,  blessed  be  his  name, 
vet  we  are  not  to  stop,  or  take  up  our  rest  here  ;  we  must 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  459 

watch  still,  pray  still,  fight  still,  that  good  fight  of  faith,  till 
we  have  overcome  the  enemy  of  our  souls.  And  even  then 
must  we  watch  and  pray,  and  that  to  the  end  of  our  days; 
that  we  may  not  lose  that  crown  of  glory  which  God,  the 
righteous  judge,  shall  give  to  all  those  that  love  his  appear 
ance,  overcome,  and  persevere  to  the  end.  For  be  assured 
we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not ;  but  we  shall  faint,  if  we  wait 
not  upon  God,  who  alone  is  the  strength  of  his  people. 

"  God  is  not  wanting :  He  who  long  stood  at  the  door  of 
our  hearts,  under  our  impenitency  in  times  past,  till  his 
locks  were  wet  with  the  dew,  and  his  hair  with  the  drops 
of  the  night,  till  we  were  wakened  out  of  our  carnal  secur 
ity,  and  came  to  judgment  in  ourselves,  unto  unfeigned 
repentance,  to  be  sure  He  is  not  weary  of  waiting  to  be 
gracious  now  to  his  poor  people ;  especially  if  they  are  poor 
in  spirit,  and  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness. 

"  And  though  Balaams  there  are,  who  may  be  hired  by 
the  Balaks  of  our  age,  to  curse  our  Israel-family  of  God, 
who  knows  but  even  some  of  these  may  yet  live  to  say, 
before  they  die,  '  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  0  Jacob ! ' 
'  How  pleasant  is  thy  dwelling-place,  0  Israel ! '  But  then, 
friends,  we  must  keep  our  tents,  we  must  be  a  retired  and 
a  peculiar  people,  and  dwell  alone.  We  must  keep  above 
the  world,  and  clear  of  the  spirit  of  it,  and  those  many 
trifles,  cares,  and  troubles  that  abound  in  it. 

"It  is  in  Christ  ye  have  peace,  in  the  world  is  the  trouble; 
keep  therefore  in  Him  who  has  called  himself,  and  we  have 
found  Him  so,  the  way,  Truth,  and  life ;  and  you  shall 
live,  because  He  lives :  He  the  root,  you  the  branches,  by 
whom  yo'i  will  be  kept  green  and  fruitful,  bringing  forth 
the  fill  its  and  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  all  your  con- 


460  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

verse  and  commerce,  that  it  may  be  seen  and  said,  God 
is  with  you  and  amongst  you.  Oh,  let  humility,  charity, 
meekness,  and  self-denial  shine  amongst  you !  so  will  you 
come  to  sit,  as  did  the  primitive  Christians,  in  heavenly 
places  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  be  preserved  through  the 
noise,  snares,  and  hurry  of  this  present  evil  world. 

"  But  the  condition  of  some,  who  pretend  to  follow 
Christ,  yet  are  afar  off,  affects  iny  spirit. 

"  Oh !  my  dear  friends,  let  me  prevail  with  you,  in  this 
my  farewell  to  you,  to  turn  your  minds  inward,  and  wait 
to  feel  your  Redeemer,  and  meet  Him  in  the  way  of  his 
righteous  judgments;  for  there  is  no  redemption  but 
through  judgment,  nor  conversion  but  through  righteous 
ness.  Come  and  be  baptized  by  Christ :  lie  will  baptize 
you  with  his  fire  and  Holy  Ghost.  So  will  you  come  to 
find  your  interest  in  Christ,  as  you  feel  his  workmanship 
and  interest  in  and  over  you.  And  as  you  thus  come  to 
be  related  to  Christ,  the  heavenly  Head,  by  knowing  Him 
to  be  head  in  you,  so  will  you  come  to  be  related  to  his 
body,  the  church,  and  see  your  proper  membership  and 
service  therein ;  which  I  pray  God  effect,  to  his  glory  and 
your  comfort. 

"And  now  to  the  whole  family  and  flock  of  God,  in  this 
European  part  of  the  world,  of  the  same  communion, 
according  to  the  dispensation  of  God,  be  they  high  or  low, 
young  or  old,  rich  or  poor,  wise  or  simple,  strong  or  weak, 
male  or  female,  bond  or  free,  I  send  this  parting  salutation, 
of  my  most  dear  love  in  the  Truth  ;  beseeching  you  all  to 
have  me  and  mine  in  your  remembrance,  not  only  when 
upon  the  mighty  waters,  but  when  in  the  solitary  deserts 
of  America,  if  it  please  the  Lord  to  bring  us  safe  thither. 


OF    WILLIAM    PENX.  461 

il  I  must  leave  you,  but  I  can  never  forget  you ;  and 
suffer  me  to  say  that,  to  my  power,  I  have  from  the  first 
endeavored  to  serve  you  and  my  poor  country  too,  and 
that  at  my  own  charges,  with  an  upright  mind,  however 
misunderstood  and  treated  by  some  whom  I  heartily  for 
give.  Accept  you  my  services,  and  ever  love  and  remem 
ber,  my  dear  friends  and  brethren,  your  old,  true,  and 
affectionate  friend,  brother  and  servant,  in  Christ  Jesus, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

The  certificate  which  he  bore  from  Friends  at  home  is 
as  follows : 

"  From  our  Monthly  Meeting  held  at  Ilorsham,  Old  England, 

1 1th  of  Fifth  month,  1699. 

"  To  the  churches  of  Christ  in  Pennsylvania,  and  to  all 
the  faithful  Friends  and  brethren  unto  whom  this  may 
come.  In  the  covenant  of  life  and  fellowship  of  the  gos 
pel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  unity  of  the  one 
Eternal  Spirit  of  our  God,  we  dearly  salute  you ;  most 
earnestly  desiring  your  everlasting  prosperity  in  the 
blessed  Truth. 

"  Now,  dear  Friends  and  brethren,  whereas  our  worthy 
friend  and  elder,  William  Penn,  did  acquaint  our  Monthly 
Men's  Meeting  with  his  intended  voyage  into  his  province 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  although  we  are  right  sensible  that 
he  needeth  no  letter  of  recommendation  from  us  to  pass 
into  his  own  country,  yet,  at  his  request,  and  for  the  good 
order's  sake  that  God  hath  established  in  his  church  and 
amongst  his  people,  and  for  the  sincere  love  we  bear  to 
our  well-esteemed  friend,  we  could  do  no  less  than  give 
this  small  token  of  our  unity  and  communion  with  him, 
39* 


462  PASSAGES    FKOM    THE    LIFE 

as  a  testimony  for  him  and  his  service  in  the  church  of 
Christ ;  wherein  he  hath  been  a  worthy  and  blessed  in- 
strument  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  both  in  his  ministry 
and  conversation,  and  hath  always  sought  the  prosperity 
of  the  blessed  truth,  and  peace  and  concord  in  the  church 
of  Christ;  and  hath  walked  amongst  us  in  all  humility, 
godly  sincerity,  and  true  brotherly  love,  to  our  great  re 
freshment  and  comfort.  Who  hath,  with  much  labor  and 
great  travail,  on  all  occasions  endeavored  the  defence  <>f 
truth  against  its  opposers,  and  the  preservation  of  true 
unity  and  good  order  in  the  church  of  Christ.  So,  in  the 
unity  of  the  one  Eternal  Spirit,  which  is  the  bond  of  true 
peace,  we  take  our  leave  of  him  with  earnest  breathings 
and  supplications  to  the  great  God,  whom  the  winds  arid 
seas  obey,  that  He  would  mercifully  be  pleased  to  go  along 
with  him,  and  conduct  him  by  the  angel  of  his  divine  pres 
ence  to  his  desired  port,  and  preserve  him  to  the  end  of 
his  days,  and  in  the  end  that  he  may  receive  an  immortal 
crown,  and  be  bound  up  in  the  bundle  of  life  amongst 
them  that  have  turned  many  to  righteousness,  who  shine 
as  the  sun  in  the  firmament  of  God's  eternal  power,  for 
ever  and  ever,  amen." 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  463 


XXV. 

THE  Canterbury  was  three  months  on  the  voyage  to 
Philadelphia.  James  Logan,  in  a  letter  to  William 
Penn,  Jr.,  the  only  surviving  son  of  Gulielma  Penn,  gives 
an  account  of  his  father's  reception.  James  Logan  was 
William  Penn's  secretary  as  well  as  steadfast  friend  and 
wise  counsellor.  He  was  a  high-toned  gentleman,  too 
unbending  in  his  integrity  to  be  universally  popular.  He 
had  a  fine  mind,  and  was  devoted  to  literary  and  scien 
tific  tastes  and  pursuits.  He  became  Secretary  of  the 
Province,  for  some  time  President  of  the  Council,  and 
afterwards  Chief  Justice. 

David  Lloyd,  who  is  referred  to  in  the  letter,  was  a 
Friend,  a  man  of  ability  as  a  lawyer,  of  good  private 
character,  but  a  persistent  disturber  of  the  peace  in  the 
councils  of  the  province,  and,  as  the  professed  upholder  of 
popular  rights,  was  an  unscrupulous  leader  of  weaker 
minds  in  opposition  to  the  proprietary  and  the  best 
measures  of  the  government. 

Colonel  Quarry  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Eng 
land,  the  admiralty  judge  appointed  by  the  Crown,  and 
therefore  independent  of  the  proprietary.  He  was  his 
pertinacious  opponent  for  a  long  time.  He  disliked  his 
views  in  regard  to  war,  the  use  of  oaths,  and  the  position 
in  Pennsylvania  of  the  Established  Church  of  England, 
and,  as  a  leading  member  of  a  party  which  sympathized 


464:  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

with  him,  gave  great  annoyance  to  William  Penn  and  hia 
friends. 

James  Logan  to  William  Penn,  Jr. 

11  PHILADELPHIA,  Seventh  month,  25th,  1700. 

"  The  highest  terms  I  could  use  would  hardly  give  you 
an  idea  of  the  expectation  and  welcome  that  thy  father 
received  from  the  most  of  the  honcster  party  here.  Friends 
generally  concluded  that  after  all  their  troubles  and  disap 
pointments,  this  province  now  scarce  wanted  anything 
more  to  render  it  completely  happy.  The  faction  that 
had  long  contended  to  overthrow  the  settled  constitution 
of  the  government  received  an  universal  damp,  yet  endeav 
ored  what  mischief  they  could  by  speaking  whispers,  that 
the  proprietary  could  not  act  as  governor  without  the 
king's  approbation,  and  taking  an  oath  as  obliged  by  act 
of  Parliament ;  but  that  in  a  great  measure  soon  blew 
over.  Colonel  Quarry,  judge,  and  John  Moore,  advocate 
of  the  admiralty,  the  two  ringleaders,  wTcnt  down  to  the 
water-side  among  the  crowd  to  receive  the  Governor  at 
his  landing,  who  not  seeming  to  regard  the  very  submis 
sive  welcome  they  gave  him,  and  taking  notice  of  an  old 
acquaintance  that  stood  by  them,  expected  nothing  but 
almost  as  open  hostility  from  the  proprietary  as  they  were 
at  before  with  Colonel  Markham,  especially  having  heard 
that  copies  of  Colonel  Quarry's  letters  to  the  admiralty  at 
home  against  the  Governor  were  also  brought  over. 

"  Directly  from  the  wharf  the  Governor  went  to  his 
deputy's,  paid  him  a  short  formal  visit,  and  from  thence, 
with  a  crowd  attending,  to  meeting,  it  being  about  three 
o'clock  on  First-day  afternoon,  where  he  spoke  on  a  doable 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  465 

account  to  the  people,  and  praying,  concluded  it ;  from 
thence  to  Edward  Shippen's,  where  we  lodged  for  about  a 
month. 

"  For  two  or  three  days  the  Governor  seemed  to  admire 
at  Colonel  Quarry's  distance,  and  perceiving  that  he  was 
not  like  to  come  pay  a  civil  visit  as  might  be  expected, 
sent  me  to  him  with  an  inviting  compliment,  with  which 
he  presently  complied,  and  entered  into  a  very  familiar 
conversation  with  the  Governor,  who  endeavored  to  make 
it  appear  that  he  would  treat  all  parties  with  equal  civility 
and  regard  in  this  province  that  were  not  directly  injurious 
to  him  ;  confessed  he  believed  there  was  occasion  given  for 
the  complaint  that  went  home ;  blamed  the  mal-adminis- 
tration  of  affairs  in  some  particulars  relative  to  the  king, 
and  resolved  to  have  a  hearing  of  the  whole  matter  before 
himself  and  council.  The  two  persons  chiefly  struck  at  by 
Quarry  was  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  David  Lloyd, 
Attorney- General;  a  man  very  stiff  in  all  his  undertak 
ings,  of  a  sound  judgment  and  a  good  lawyer,  but  ex 
tremely  pertinacious  and  somewhat  revengeful.  He,  at 
that  time,  was  one  of  the  council,  and  those  mighty  wrongs 
that  had  been  put  on  the  king  coming  to  be  debated  there, 
David  resolutely  defended  all  that  had  been  done,  and  too 
highly  opposed  the  Governor's  resolution  of  composing  all 
by  mildness  and  moderation,  and  reconciling  all  animosi 
ties  by  his  own  intervention,  which  he  thought  the  only 
advisable  expedient  to  put  an  end  to  those  differences  that 
had  cost  him  so  much  trouble.  This  soon  created  some 
small  misunderstanding.  Several  of  the  most  noted 
Friends  were  involved  more  or  less  in  David's  business, 
and  though  troubled  at  his  stiffness,  yet  wished  him  in 

2E 


466  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

the  right,  because  the  most  active  enemy  and  assiduous 
counsellor  against  the  other  party,  who  on  all  occasions 
would  be  glad,  they  thought,  of  their  utter  ruin.  His 
obstinacy  the  Governor  could. by  no  means  brook;  he 
could  not  but  think  there  was  more  deference  and  consid 
eration  due  to  his  character  and  station.  The  other  knew 
not  what  it  was  to  bend,  he  was  engaged  in  the  cause, 
and  would  stand  or  fall  by  it,  offering  to  plead  it  at  West 
minster  Hall.  But  the  Governor,  who  was  most  sensible 
of  the  pulse  of  the  court  and  affairs  in  general  at  home, 
knew  this  course  would  never  take,  and  therefore  was 
sometimes  warm  enough  to  inveigh  highly  against  past 
proceedings,  not  sparing  several  in  express  words  that 
were  concerned  in  them,  and  laying  open  in  large  dis 
course  what  would  be  the  consequence  if  they  took  not 
some  more  effectual  ways  to  satisfy  superiors  at  home, 
who,  perhaps,  would  be  very  well  pleased  with  any  occa 
sion,  by  whatsoever  hand  administered,  to  wrench  the 
government  out  of  the  proprietor's  hands  and  throw  it 
on  the  king. 

"  Friends'  love  to  the  Governor  was  great  and  sincere ; 
they  had  long  mourned  for  his  absence  and  passionately 
desired  his  return.  He,  they  firmly  believed,  would  com 
pose  all  their  difficulties  and  repair  all  that  was  amiss." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  council,  William  Penn  said  to  them  : 

"  FRIENDS  :— Though  this  be  a  colony  of  nineteen  years' 
standing,  and  not  inferior  to  any  of  its  age  and  establish 
ing,  yet  we  have  much  to  do  to  make  a  free  constitution 
and  the  courts  of  justice  therein.  There  are  in  it  some 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXX.  467 

laws  which  jnay  be  accounted  obsolete,  others  hurtful, 
others  imperfect,  that  will  need  improvement ;  and  it  will 
be  requisite  to  make  some  new  ones.  We  cannot  go  too 
slowly  to  make  them,  nor  too  fast  to  execute  them  when 
made,  and  that  with  diligence  and  discretion.  You, 
friends,  are  the  people's  choice  and  my  council.  You  will 
see  what  laws  are  fit  to  be  left  out,  and  what  are  fit  to  be 
made  ;  and  you,  with  me,  are  to  prepare  and  propose  them. 
I  say  this  the  rather,  because  of  a  false  notion  some  have 
got,  that  because  you  are  my  council,  therefore  you  are 
not  the  people's  representatives.  The  ablest  men  have 
always  been  chosen  to  be  of  the  council  to  prepare  the 
laws,  arid  the  assembly  are  to  consent  to  them.  Though 
two  bodies,  yet  arc  we  but  one  power — the  one  prepares, 
the  other  consents.  Friends,  if  in  the  constitution  by 
charter  there  be  anything  that  jars,  alter  it.  If  you  want 
a  law  for  this  or  that,  prepare  it ;  I  advise  you  not  to 
trifle  with  government ;  I  wish  there  were  no  need  of 
any ;  but  since  crimes  prevail,  government  is  made  neces 
sary  by  man's  degeneracy.  Government  is  not  an  end, 
but  a  means ;  he  who  thinks  it  to  be  an  end,  aims  at 
profit,  to  make  a  trade  of  it ;  but  he  who  thinks  it  to  be 
a  means,  understands  the  true  end  of  government.  Friends, 
away  with  all  parties,  and  look  on  yourselves,  and  on  what 
is  good  for  all  as  a  body  politic  ;  first  as  under  the  king 
and  crown  of  England ;  and  next  as  under  me  by  letters- 
patent  from  that  crown.  Study  peace  and  be  at  unity. 
Provide  for  the  good  of  all;  and  I  desire  to  see  mine  r.o 
otherwise  than  in  the  public's  prosperity.  The  last  as 
sembly  made  two  laws  against  piracy  and  forbidden  trade. 
I  hear  they  have  not  sat  easy  on  the  books  of  some ;  but 


•168  PASSAGES    FHOM    THE    LIFE 

I  hope  we  having  therein  been  careful,  we  shall  have 
thanks  for  making  them  before  we  had  orders  so  to  do  ; 
and  after  so  many  calumnies  and  complaints  we  have  been 
loaded  with,  I  hope  those  two  laws  will  in  some  degree 
wash  us  clean.  What  concerns  myself  I  also  leave  it  with 
you  to  consider.  I  havf.  been  now  nineteen  years  your 
proprietor  and  governor,  and  have  at  my  charge  main 
tained  my  deputy,  whereby  I  have  much  worsted  myself 
and  estate.  I  hope  it  will  be  no  wonder  to  any  here  to 
hear  me  make  this  mention  of  it." 

After  the  separation  of  the  legislature,  William  Penn 
retired  to  his  mansion  at  Pennsbury,  the  usual  place  of 
his  residence. 

This  estate  was  situated  above  Bristol,  on  the  river 
Delaware.  It  comprised  six  thousand  acres  of  land, 
mostly  covered  with  forests,  ten  acres  only  being  cleared 
at  this  time. 

"  The  mansion-house  was  seated  on  a  moderate  emi 
nence.  A  broad  walk  through  an  avenue  of  poplars  led 
to  the  river,  descending  from  the  upper  terrace  to  the 
lower  grounds  by  a  flight  of  steps.  The  house  was  sur 
rounded  by  gardens  and  lawns,  and  the  more  distant  woods 
were  opened  in  vistas  looking  down  the  river  and  upward 
to  the  falls.  These  woods  had  been  laid  out  in  walks,  at 
the  proprietary's  first  visit,  and  the  preservation  of  the 
trees  is  enjoined  in  several  of  his  letters. 

"  The  proprietor  sent  out  from  England  walnuts,  haw 
thorns,  hazels,  fruit-trees,  and  a  great  variety  of  the  rarest 
seeds  and  rools;  while  in  this  country  (as  we  learn  from 
his  cash-book)  he  procured  from  Maryland  several  panniers 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  469 

of  trees  and  shrubs,  indigenous  in  that  province,  and  he 
directed  by  his  letters  that  the  most  beautiful  wild-flowers 
should  be  transplanted  into  his  gardens." 

The  affairs  of  the  government  must  have  occupied  great 
part  of  his  care  and  attention,  for  many  things  had  got 
out  of  order.  But  there  were  two  subjects  which  particu 
larly  claimed  his  consideration ;  viz.,  the  instruction  and 
civilization  of  the  Indians ;  and  the  improvement  of  the 
negroes.  He  had  devoted  considerable  attention  to  the 
former  while  in  America  before,  and  during  his  absence 
the  subject  docs  not  appear  to  have  been  entirely  neglected. 

At  the  Monthly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia,  which  oc 
curred  in  the  First  month,  1TOO,  William  Pcnn  opened 
his  concern,  which  he  informed  them  had  long  engaged 
his  mind,  for  the  benefit  and  welfare  of  the  Indians  and 
negroes ;  prcssingly  exhorting'  Friends  to  discharge  their 
duty  to  those  people ;  more  particularly  in  relation  to  the 
improvement  of  their  minds.  Advising  that  they  should, 
as  frequently  as  possible,  enjoy  the  advantage  of  attend 
ing  religious  meetings,  and  receiving  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion.  In  consequence 
of  this  communication,  a  meeting  was  appointed  particu 
larly  for  the  negroes,  to  be  held  once  a  month.  Measures 
were  also  adopted  for  having  meetings  more  frequently 
with  the  Indians,  William  Pcnn  taking  upon  himself  the 
charge  of  regulating  the  manner,  and  procuring  inter 
preters. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  three  lower  counties,  in 

1G91,  separated  from  the  province,  and  that  William  Pcnn, 

then  in  retirement  on  account  of  the  accusations  of  Fuller, 

was  induced  to  give  a  reluctant  assent  to  this  separation 

40 


470  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

When  the  government  of  the  province  and  territories  wag 
conferred  upon  Colonel  Fletcher,  he  reunited  them,  ap 
parently  without  consulting  their  choice  on  the  subject. 
The  legislative  assembly,  thus  composed  of  members  from 
the  province  and  territories,  was  convened  at  Philadelphia 
in  the  Third  month,  1*700.  In  the  commencement  of  the 
session,  William  Penn  sent  them  information,  that  as  he 
understood  they  were  not  satisfied  with  the  charter  which 
was  granted  by  his  deputy  in  1690,  he  was  prepared  to 
offer  them  another.  This  information  was  given  at  the 
opening  of  the  session,  for  the  double  purpose  of  proving 
his  readiness  to  oblige  them,  and  of  giving  time  to  con 
sider  the  subject  deliberately. 

His  next  object  was  to  secure,  by  legislative  enactments, 
the  improvement  in  the  condition  and  treatment  of  the 
negroes  and  Indians  in  the  province;  which  he  had  pre 
viously  labored  to  effect  within  the  limits  of  his  own 
religious  Society.  In  pursuance  of  this  object,  he  pre 
sented  soon  afterwards  a  bill  for  regulating  the  morals 
and  marriages  of  the  negroes,  and  another  for  the  regu 
lation  of  their  trials  and  punishment,  substituting  the 
judgment  of  the  law  for  the  will  of  the  master.  A  third 
was  also  laid  before  the  assembly,  for  preventing  abuses 
upon  the  Indians.  Of  these  bills  he  had  the  mortification 
to  find  the  first  and  last  rejected,  the  reasons  for  which 
are  not  transmitted  to  us  in  the  history  of  the  time.  What 
portion  of  the  members  of  the -assembly  belonged  to  the 
Society  of  Friends  is  uncertain ;  but  the  council  of  the 
Governor,  consisting  altogether  of  Friends,  had  united 
with  him  in  proposing  these  bills,  and  the  Monthly  Meet 
ing  of  Philadelphia  had  sanctioned  the  principle  of  them, 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  471 

Hence  we  may  very  rationally  conclude  that  this  rejection 
was  the  effect  of  an  influence  extraneous  to  his  own  So 
ciety.  The  assembly  after  a  short  session  was  dissolved 
by  the  Governor. 

When  William  Pcnn  was  released  from  his  attendance 
on  the  legislature,  he  took  the  opportunity  of  renewing 
bis  friendly  intercourse  with  the  Indians.  For  this  pur 
pose  he  visited  them  in  the  forests,  and  received  them  in 
return  at  his  mansion  at  Pennsbury. 

Another  legislative  assembly  was  convoked  in  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year,  1700,  to  meet  at  Newcastle. 
One  of  the  objects  to  which  their  attention  was  called  by 
the  Governor,  was  the  adjustment  of  the  new  charter  or 
frame  of  government,  which  the  former  assembly  had 
left  unfinished. 

They  made,  however,  very  little  progress,  before  the 
jealousies  and  surmisings  which  had  formerly  rent  the 
territories  from  the  province  began  to  appear.  The  mem 
bers  from  the  lower  counties,  perceiving  that  the  growing 
population  and  wealth  of  the  province  must  inevitably  at 
no  distant  day  render  the  balance  of  power  very  unequal, 
and  fearing  or  professing  to  fear  that  an  improper  advan 
tage  would  be  taken,  demanded  that  no  greater  number 
of  representatives  should  at  any  subsequent  time  be  sent 
from  the  province  than  from  the  territories.  This  pro 
posal  being  rejected  by  the  provincial  members,  a  sepa 
ration  seemed  in  danger  of  taking  place.  But  both  par 
ties  agreed  to  consult  the  Governor  upon  the  subject ;  and 
he  suggested  an  expedient,  to  which  they  all  agreed,  viz., 
that  in  all  legislative  acts  in  which  the  interests  or  privi 
leges  of  the  territories  were  separately  involved,  the  con- 


472  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

currencc  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  from  the  lower 
counties,  as  well  as  a  majority  of  those  from  the  province, 
should  be  required. 

This  question  being  settled,  another  almost  immediately 
arose.  It  was  agreed  that  provision  should  be  made  for 
defraying  the  expense  of  government ;  but  the  adjustment 
of  the  mode  and  the  proportion  to  be  paid  by  the  different 
sections  was  the  difficulty.  Several  plans  were  proposed 
and  rejected,  the  members  from  the  territories,  and  those 
from  the  province,  uniformly  taking  opposite  sides.  As 
there  were  then  only  three  counties  in  the  province,  this 
division  of  their  votes  produced  an  exact  equilibrium.  But 
again  the  wisdom  and  discretion  of  William  Perm  brought 
the  contending  parties  to  an  agreement. 

During  the  time  which  William  Pcnn  had  passed  in 
America,  he  had  applied  himself  industriously  to  the 
affairs  of  the  government ;  endeavoring  to  rectify  the  dis 
orders  which  had  crept  into  the  province  ;  always  pre 
ferring  the  good  of  the  country  and  its  inhabitants  to  his 
own  private  interest;  rather  remitting  than  strictly  ex 
acting  his  lawful  revenues ;  so  that  under  his  paternal 
administration  the  people  of  the  province  were  advancing 
in  prosperity  and  accumulating  the  necessaries  and  com 
forts  of  life.  But  the  ambition  of  rulers  and  the  intrigues 
of  their  enemies  raised  another  storm,  which  in  a  short 
time  separated  William  Penn  forever  from  his  province. 

The  growing  wealth  and  population  of  the  American 
colonies  began  before  this  time  to  excite  the  jealousy  of 
the  government  at  home,  and  the  project  appears  to  have 
been  formed  soon  after  the  revolution  to  purchase  the 
proprietorship  of  the  more  important  ones,  if  not  of  all, 


OF    WILLIAM    PEXN.  473 

and  vest  their  government  in  the  crown.  A  bill  was  at 
this  time  actually  before  the  House  of  Lords,  for  chang 
ing-  the  colonial  governments  into  regal  ones.  The  excuse 
for  this  intended  assumption  of  power,  was  the  national 
advantage  to  be  derived  from  it  on  one  hand,  and  the  pre 
tended  abuses  existing  among  them  on  the  other.  The 
friends  of  William  Penn  and  others  interested  in  the 
affairs  of  Pennsylvania,  represented  to  Parliament  the 
hardship  of  his  case,  and  solicited  a  suspension  of  their 
proceedings  until  he  could  return  and  answer  for  himself 
Letters  wore  also  despatched,  giving  him  information  of 
the  measures  in  progress  and  urging  his  immediate  return. 

Painful  as  the  prospect  of  abandoning  the  colony  in 
which  he  had  expected  to  spend  the  evening  of  his  day 
unquestionably  was,  there  appeared  no  alternative.  The 
experiment  which  he  had  attempted,  of  maintaining  a 
government  upon  Christian  principles,  and  making  the 
settlement  of  the  country  subservient  to  the  civilization 
of  the  original  inhabitants,  was  in  danger  of  being  totally 
frustrated.  A  military  government  might  be  reasonably 
expected  in  case  the  bill  in  question  should  be  completed; 
and  very  possibly  the  barbarous  contests  with  the  natives 
which  marked  the  early  settlements  in  Virginia  and  New 
England,  would  be  renewed  upon  the  banks  of  the  Dela 
ware. 

Having  decided  upon  a  voyage  to  Europe,  William 
Penn  again  convened  the  assembly  at  Philadelphia,  to 
whom  on  the  15th  of  Seventh  month  he  delivered  an 
address,  in  which  he  said : 

"I  cannot  think  of  such  a  voyage  without  great  re- 
luctancy  of  mind,  having  promised  myself  the  quietness 
40* 


4:74:  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

of  a  wilderness,  and  that  I  might  stay  so  long-  at  least 
with  you  as  to  render  everybody  entirely  easy  and  safe 
For  my  heart  is  among  you  as  well  as  my  body,  what 
ever  some  people  may  please  to  think,  and  no  unkindness 
or  disappointment  shall,  with  submission  to  God's  prov 
idence,  ever  be  able  to  alter  my  love  to  the  country,  and 
resolution  to  return  and  settle  my  family  and  posterity  in 
it ;  but  having  reason  to  believe  I  can  at  this  time  best 
serve  you  and  myself  on  that  side  of  the  water,  neither 
the  rudeness  of  the  season,  nor  tender  circumstances  of 
my  family,  can  overrule  my  inclinations  to  undertake  it. 

"  Think  therefore,  since  all  men  are  mortal,  of  some 
suitable  expedient  and  provision  for  your  safety,  as  well 
in  your  privileges  as  property,  and  you  will  find  me 
ready  to  comply  with  whatsoever  may  render  us  happy 
by  a  nearer  union  of  our  interests. 

"  Review  again  your  laws ;  propose  new  ones  that  may 
better  your  circumstances,  and  what  you  do,  do  it  quickly, 
remembering  that  the  Parliament  sits  the  end  of  the 
next  month,  and  that  the  sooner  I  am  there  the  safer  I 
hope  we  shall  be  here." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  proceed 
ings  of  this  assembly.  Suffice  it  to  observe,  that '  the 
jealousies  of  the  lower  counties  again  appeared,  but  were 
so  far  allayed  by  the  mildness  and  firmness  of  the  Governor, 
that  the  members  agreed  to  proceed  with  those  from  the 
province  in  the  settlement  of  the  business  for  which  they 
were  convened.  The  charter  of  privileges  was  completed 
and  signed,  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  the  parties  con 
cerned. 

The  news  that  William  Penn  was  going  to  England 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  475 

soon  brought  f,  number  of  Indians  to  visit  him.  Some  of 
these  visits  were  received  at  Pennsbury,  probably  before 
the  meeting  of  the  assembly,  and  one,  at  least,  at  Phila 
delphia,  during  the  session. 

John  Richardson,  who  was  then  in  Pennsylvania  upon 
a  religious  visit,  has  left  us  a  brief  account  of  an  interview 
between  William  Penn  and  the  Indians  at  Pennsbury. 
The  conference  was  conducted  with  great  sobriety  and 
decorum.  One  of  the  chiefs,  speaking  of  their  covenants 
which  they  were  then  reviving,  told  them  that  they  never 
first  broke  their  covenants  with  any  people ;  for,  striking 
his  hand  upon  his  head,  he  said  they  did  not  make  them 
there ;  but  said,  striking  his  hand  on  his  breast,  they 
made  them  there.  After  the  proper  business  was  finished, 
William  Penn  presented  them  with  some  articles  of  cloth 
ing,  and  before  they  left  him,  assured  them  that  if  any 
differences  should  arise  between  them  and  any  of  his 
people,  it  need  not  be  the  cause  of  Avar;  for  that  justice 
should  be  done  in  such  cases ;  that  animosities  might  be 
prevented  on  both  sides  forever. 

Of  the  visit  made  during  the  session  of  the  assembly, 
but  little  is  now  known,  though  the  interview  is  said  to 
have  been  very  interesting.  It  appears  to  have  been  in 
the  presence  of  the  council. 

William  Penn  told  them,  the  assembly  was  then  about 
enacting  a  law,  according  to  the  desire  of  the  Indians,  to 
prevent  their  being  abused  by  the  sale  of  rum  among 
them  ;  and  he  requested  them  to  unite  their  utmost  efforts 
with  those  of  the  government,  to  secure  its  due  execution. 

Observing  to  them  at  the  same  time,  that  this  was  likely 
to  be  his  last  interview  with  them,  at  least  until  his  return, 


476  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

he  assured  them  he  had  always  loved  them,  and  been  kind 
to  them,  and  should  always  continue  so  to  be,  not  from 
policy  or  to  promote  his  own  interest,  but  from  a  real 
affection  ;  and  he  desired  them,  in  his  absence,  to  cultivate 
friendship  with  those  whom  he  should  leave  in  authority 
behind  him  ;  for  they  would  always,  in  some  degree,  con 
tinue  their  friendship  to  them  as  he  had  ever  done.  Lastly, 
he  told  them,  that  he  had  charged  the  members  of  council, 
and  he  then  repeated  the  charge,  that  they  should  in  all 
respects  be  kind  to  fhem,  and  entertain  them  with  all 
courtesy  and  demonstrations  of  good-will,  as  he  had  always 
done.  The  members  then  promised  that  they  would  faith 
fully  observe  the  charge.  Some  presents  were  then  made 
to  the  Indians,  after  which  they  withdrew. 

Preparations  being  made  for  his  voyage,  and  the  vessel 
nearly  ready  to  sail,  he  appointed  a  council  of  state,  con 
sisting  of  ten  persons,  of  whom  Thomas  Story  was  one ; 
he  likewise  presented  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  with  a 
charter,  constituting  it  a  city,  with  the  necessary  power 
for  its  government ;  and  lastly,  he  constituted  Andrew 
Hamilton,  who  was  sometime  governor  both  of  East  and 
West  New  Jersey,  his  deputy  governor  for  the  province 
and  territories. 

On  the  31st  of  Eighth  month,  1701,  he  embarked  with 
his  wife  and  family,  and  arrived  safely  at  Portsmouth 
about  the  middle  of  the  Tenth  month  following. 

At  the  time  of  his  sailing,  Isaac  Norris  wrote : 

"27th  Sbr.  1701. 

"This  comes  by  our  proprietor  and  governor,  Penn, 
who  with  his  family  are  undertaking  this  hazardous  voy- 


OF     WILLIAM    PENN.  477 

age  at  too  hard  a  season.  I  earnestly  desire  and  pray 
for  their  preservation  and  safety  :  him  we  shall  want. 
The  unhappy  misunderstandings  in  some,  and  unwar 
rantable  opposition  in  others,  have  been  a  block  to  our 
plenary  comforts  in  him  and  his  own  quiet ;  but  these 
things  are  externals  only,  our  communion  in  the  church 
sweetens  all,  and  our  inward  waitings  and  worship  [htfve] 
often  been  a  general  comfort  and  consolation ;  and  in  this 
I  take  a  degree  of  satisfaction  after  all,  that  we  part  in 
love ;  and  some  of  his  last  [expressions]  in  our  meeting 
yesterday  were,  that  'he  looked  over  all  infirmities  and 
outwards,  and  had  an  eye  to  the  regions  of  spirit,  wherein 
was  our  sweetest  tye,'  and  in  true  love  then  he  took  his 
leave  of  us.  His  excellent  wife,  and  she  is  beloved  by 
all,  (I  believe  I  may  say  in  its  fullest  extent,)  so  is  her 
leaving  us,  heavy  and  of  real  sorrow  to  her  friends ;  she 
has  carried,  under  and  through  all,  with  a  wonderful  even 
ness,  humility,  and  freedom;  her  sweetness  and  goodness 
have  become  her  character,  and  arc  indeed  extraordinary." 

From  on  board  the  ship,  he  wrote  to  James  Logan : 

"  I  have  left  thee  in  uncommon  trust,  with  a  singular 
dependence  on  thy  justice  and  care.  Use  thy  utmost  en 
deavors  to  receive  all  that  is  due  to  me.  Pay  off  all  my 
notes  and  orders  on  thee,  settle  my  accounts,  discharge  all 
my  debts  honorably  but  carefully,  make  rent-rolls,  draw 
up  an  estimate  of  my  estate,  and  of  what  may  be  raised 
from  it,  which  send  over  to  me  as  speedily  as  possible,  for 
it  may  be  of  great  use  to  me.  Give  my  dear  love  to  all 
my  friends,  who  I  desire  may  labor  to  soften  angry  spirits, 
and  to  reduce  them  to  a  sense  of  their  duty." 


478  PASSAGES    FHOM    THE    LIFE 


XXVI. 

rTTHERE  can  be  no  doubt  that  William  Pcnn,  upon  his 
-L  arrival  in  England,  paid  all  the  needful  attention  to 
the  subject  which  occasioned  his  voyage ;  yet  we  do  not 
find  that  any  considerable  efforts  on  his  part  were  required. 
The  attention  of  the  government  was  sufficiently  engrossed 
by  objects  of  greater  interest  to  the  nation,  and  the  death  of 
the  king,  which  occurred  on  the  8th  of  First  month,  ltOl-2, 
produced  a  sensible  change  in  the  situation  of  "William 
Pcnn  in  relation  to  the  government  at  home.  His  well- 
known  friendship  for  the  unfortunate  and  bigoted  James, 
as  we  have  had  ample  reason  to  observe,  without  and 
participation  in  the  arbitrary  measures  of  the  court,  ren 
dered  him  an  object  of  suspicion  during  the  reign  of  Wil 
liam.  But  upon  the  accession  of  Ann,  the  second  daughter 
of  James,  those  jealousies  disappeared,  and  he  became 
once  more  an  acceptable  visitor  at  court.  Amidst  these 
changes  of  influence  and  power,  the  bill  for  converting  the 
colonial  into  regal  governments  was  suffered  to  fall  into 
oblivion. 

But  another  was  enacted,  requiring  the  royal  assent  to 
the  appointment  of  deputy  governors.  This  indicates  a 
disposition  to  render  them  more  dependent  upon  the  crown 
than  they  had  hitherto  been.  It  was  probably  with  a  view 
of  being  at  hand  to  counteract  any  measures  on  the  part 
of  the  government  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  colo- 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  479 

nies,  that  William  Penn  took  lodgings  for  himself  and 
family  at  Kensington,  where  he  appears  to  have  resided 
during  the  year  1702. 

Frequent  communications  passed  between  William  Penu 
and  James  Logan  which  give  an  insight  into  both  private 
and  public  affairs.  From  one  of  the  first  letters  after  Wil 
liam  Penn's  arrival  in  England,  it  is  evident  that  the 
habits  of  his  son  William,  a  young  man  of  fine  talents  and 
pleasing  address,  were  causing  him  great  anxiety.  He 
had  married  before  his  father's  family  went  to  America, 
and  therefore  did  not  go  with  them.  It  was  now  in  pros 
pect  to  send  him  to  America,  probably  in  order  to  break 
off  hurtful  associations.  William  Penn  writes  : 

"  My  son  (William)  shall  hasten ;  possess  him,  go  with 
him  to  Pennsbury.  advise  him,  contract  and  recommend 
his  acquaintance.  He  has  promised  fair.  I  know  he  will 
regard  thee.  But  thou  wilt  see  that  I  have  purchased  the 
mighty  supplies  at  a  dear  rate.  God  forgive  those  wretched 
people  who  have  misused  me  so,  and  preserve  my  spirit 
over  it.  Pennsylvania  has  been  a  dear  Pennsylvania  to 
me  all  over,  which  few  consider,  and  with  me  lay  to  heart. 
Be  discreet.  He  has  wit,  kept  the  top  company,  and  must 
be  handled  with  much  love  and  wisdom ;  and  urging  the 
weakness  and  folly  of  some  behaviors,  and  the  necessity 
of  another  conduct  from  interest  and  reputation,  will  go 
far.  And  get  Samuel  Carpenter,  Edward  Shippen,  Isaac 
Norris,  Phineas  Pemberton,  Thomas  Masters,  and  such 
persons,,  to  be  soft,  and  kind,  and  teaching.  It  will  do 
wonders  with  him,  and  he  is  conquered  that  way.  Pre 
tends  much  to  honor,  and  is  but  over-generous  by  half, 


480  PASSAGES    FHOM    THE    LIFE 

and  yet  sharp  enough  to  get  to  spend.     He  cannot  well 
be  put  off.     All  this  keep  to  thyself." 

William  Penn  writes  to  James  Logan : 

"  LONDON,  21st  of  Fourth  month,  1702. 

.  .  .  "  Never  had  poor  man  my  task,  with  neither  men 
nor  money  to  assist  me.  I  therefore  strictly  charge  thee 
that  thou  represent. to  Friends  there,  that  I  am  distressed 
for  want  of  supply ;  that  I  am  forced  to  borrow  money, 
and  add  debts  to  debts,  instead  of  paying  them  off. 
Besides,  my  uncomfortable  distance  from  my  family,  and 
the  unspeakable  fatigue  and  vexation  of  following  attend 
ance,  drafts  of  answer,  conferences,  council's  opinions, 
hearings,  etc.,  with  the  charge  that  follows  them,  guineas 
melting,  four,  five,  six  a  week,  and  sometimes  as  many  in 
a  day.  My  wife  hitherto  has  been  maintained  by  her 
father,  whence  she  is  coming  next  week  to  Worminghurst 
on  my  daughter's  account,  in  likelihood  to  marry.  I  have 
been  more  sensibly  touched  for  the  honor  of  the  country's 
administration  than  for  myself. 

"  I  have  had  the  advice  of  some  of  the  wisest  and  great 
est  men  in  England,  that  wish  me  well,  about  bargaining 
with  the  crown  for  my  government.  They  all  say,  '  Stay 
awhile,  be  not  hasty ; '  yet  some  incline  to  a  good  bar 
gain." 

James  Logan  writes  to  William  Penn : 

"PHILADELPHIA,  17th  of  Seventh  month,  1702. 
"  We  are  sensible  of  thy  great  exigencies  for  want  of 
sufficient  supplies  there,  but  I  can  see  no  better  way  to 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  481 

remedy  it  than  those  I  am  upon.  When  thy  son  arrives, 
he  will  be  a  witness  of  our  circumstances,  and  that  I  pre 
tend  nothing  for  the  sake  of  excuse,  but  what  we  too  feel 
ingly  experience  to  be  true. 

"  I  cannot  advise  against  a  bargain  with  the  crown, 
if  to  be  had  on  good  terms  for  thyself  and  the  people. 
Friends  here,  at  least  the  generality  of  the  best  informed, 
think  government  at  this  time  so  ill  fitted  to  their  princi 
ples,  that  it  renders  them  very  indifferent  in  that  point, 
further  than  that  they  earnestly  desire  thy  success  in  vin 
dicating  the  country's  reputation,  and  that  they  may  not 
fall  a  spoil  to  such  base  hands  as  now  seek  our  ruin. 
Privileges,  they  believe,  such  as  might  be  depended  on 
for  a  continuance  both  to  thee  and  them,  with  a  moderate 
governor,  would  set  much  more  at  ease,  and  give  thee  an 
happier  life  as  proprietor  only,  than  thou  hast  yet  had  as 
governor.  Besides,  that  it  would  exempt  thee  from  the 
solicitude  they  are  under,  both  from  their  own  impotence 
and  the  malicious  watchfulness  of  enemies.  .  .  ." 

William  Penn  writes  to  James  Logan  : 

"  24th  of  Twelfth  month,  1702. 

..."  I  never  was  so  low  and  so  reduced.  For  Ire 
land,  my  old  principal  verb,  has  hardly  any  money. 

"  I  have  great  interest,  as  well  as  my  son's  settlement 
to  deduct,  with  three  or  four  per  cent,  tax  here  and 
twenty  or  twenty-six  per  cent,  exchange  from  Ireland  to 
England,  to  answer.  I  therefore  earnestly  urge  supplies, 
ftnd  by  the  best  methods  and  least  hazardous. 

"  I  know  thy  ability,  I  doubt  not  thy  integrity,  I  desire 
41  2F 


482  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

thy  application  and  health,  and,  above  all,  thy  growth  in 
the  feeling  of  the  power  of  Truth,  for  that  fits  and  helps  us 
above  all  other  things,  even  in  business  of  this  world — 
clearing  our  heads,  quickening  our  spirits,  and  giving  us 
faith  and  courage  to  perform. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  find  by  thine,  thou  art  so  much  op 
pressed  in  thy  station,  and  wish  I  could  make  it  lighter. 
If  my  son  will  apply  himself  to  business,  he  may,  by  the 
authority  of  his  relationship,  etc.,  render  the  post  easier 
to  thee.  I  know  the  baseness  of  the  temper  of  too  many 
of  the  people  thou  hast  to  deal  with,  which  calls  for  judg 
ment  and  great  temper,  with  some  authority." 

Governor  Hamilton's  administration  was  terminated  by 
his  death  in  about  two  years.  The  contest  between  the 
three  upper  and  three  lower  counties,  which  finally  re 
sulted  in  the  dissolution  of  their  union,  was  kept  up  dur 
ing  the  whole  time,  and  his  efforts  to  bring  them  into 
agreement  failed  of  any  effect. 

His  successor  was  John  Evans,  described  by  William 
Penn,  in  writing  to  James  Logan,  as  "a  young  man,  not 
above  six  and  twenty,  but  sober  and  sensible ;  the  son  of 
an  old  friend  that  loved  me  not  a  little.  He  will  be  dis 
creet,  advisable,  and  especially  by  the  best  of  our  friends." 
He  was  accompanied  by  William  Penn,  Jr.,  whom  his 
father  was  desirous  to  interest  in  the  business  of  the 
province,  and  thus  withdraw  him  from  the  dissipations 
of  Europe.  William  Penn  writes  to  James  Logan  : 

"  Take  him  away  to  Pennsbury,  and  there  give  him  the 
true  state  of  things,  and  weigh  down  his  levities,  as  well 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  483 

as  temper  his  resentments,  and  inform  his  understanding, 
since  all  depends  upon  it,  as  well  for  his  future  happiness 
as,  in  measure,  the  poor  country's."  .  .  . 

"  Watch  him,  outwit  him,  and  honestly  overreach  him 
for  his  good.  Fishings,  little  journeys  (as  to  see  the  In 
dians,  etc.)  will  divert  him.  And  interest  Friends  to  bear 
all  they  can,  and  melt  towards  him,  at  least  civilly,  if  not 
religiously.  He  will  confide  in  thee.  If  S.  Carpenter, 
Richard  Hill,  and  Isaac  N orris  could  gain  his  confidence, 
and  tender  Griffith  Owen — not  the  least  likely,  for  he  sees 
and  feels — I  should  rejoice.  Pennsylvania  has  cost  me 
dearer  in  my  poor  child  than  all  other  considerations. 
The  Lord  pity  and  spare  in  his  great  mercy.  I  yet  hope." 

James  Logan  writes  to  William  Penn  after  his  arrival : 

"  Thy  son's  voyage  hither  I  hope  will  prove  to  the  sat 
isfaction  of  all  and  to  his,  and  therefore  thy,  happiness. 
It  is  his  stock  of  excellent  good  nature  that,  in  a  great 
measure,  has  led  him  out  into  his  youthful  sallies  when 
too  easily  prevailed  on ;  and  the  same,  I  hope,  when  sea 
soned  with  the  influence  of  his  prevailing  better  judgment, 
with  which  he  is  well  stored,  will  happily  conduct  him 
into  the  channel  of  his  duty  to  God,  himself,  and  thee. 
He  is  very  well  received,  and  seldom  fails  of  drawing  love 
where  he  comes.  'Tis  his  good  fortune  here  to  be  with 
drawn  from  those  temptations  that  have  been  too  success 
ful  over  his  natural  sweetness  and  yielding  temper  with 
his  associates." 

Jamc?  Logan  writes  to  William  Penn  . 


484  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

"I  lie  under  a  great  hardship  for  want  of  a  more  full 
adjustment  of  matters  in  relation  to  his  (Wm.  Penn,  Jr.) 
supplies  here.  Before  he  left  England  he  threw  himself, 
he  says,  entirely  upon  thy  generosity,  and  therefore  re 
sents  it  the  more  nearly  when  I  am  not  able  to  come  up 
to  his  expectations,  which,  though  far  from  extravagant, 
are  much  above  the  limits  set  me.  The  directions  given 
me  can  by  no  means  satisfy  him,  nor  answer  what  is 
thought  suitable  to  the  presumptive  heir  of  the  province, 
upon  his  first  appearance  in  it,  even  by  the  most  reason 
able.  He  expresses  himself  dutifully  to  thee,  but  notwith 
standing  it  forces  him  on  thoughts  that  render  his  visit  of 
less  service  to  him." 

William  Penn  writes  to  James  Logan : 

"  BRISTOL,  2d  8br.,  1704. 

...  a  If  my  son  proves  very  expensive,  I  cannot  bear 
it ;  but  must  place  to  his  account  what  he  spends  above 
moderation,  while  I  lie  loaded  with  debt  and  interest 
here ;  else  I  shall  pay  dear  for  the  advantage  his  going 
thither  might  entitle  me  to,  since  the  subscribers  and 
bondsmen  cannot  make  ready  pay,  according  to  what  he 
has  received  for  his  land  there.  So  excite  his  return  or 
send  for  his  family  to  him,  since  I  cannot  come  to  him  as 
soon  as  I  wish.  For  if  he  bring  not  wherewith  to  pay 
his  debts  here,  his  creditors  will  fall  foul  upon  him  most 
certainly.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  done  when  I  tell  thee  to  let  my  poor  son  know 
that,  if  he  be  not  a  very  good  husband.,  I  must  sell  there 
as  well  as  here ;  and  that  all  he  spends  is  disabling  me  so 


OF     WILLIAM    PENN.  485 

far  to  clear  myself  of  debt,  and  that  he  will  pay  for  it  at 
the  long  run.  Do  it  in  the  friendliest  manner,  that  he 
may  co-operate  with  me  to  clear  our  encumbered  estate 
and  honors." 

James  Logan  writes  to  William  Penn,  Ninth  month  28, 
1704  : 

"  The  Governor  (Evans),  upon  the  queen's  letter, 
thought  himself  obliged  to  establish  a  militia.  It  was 
proposed  that  all  who  would  enlist  should  be  exempted 
from  all  services  of  the  wards,  as  watching,  constables, 
etc.  Upon  this  those  of  the  church  party  who  desired  to 
discourage  a  militia  refused  to  watch  at  all.  Not  long 
after  this,  the  watch  meeting  with  a  company  at  Enoch 
Story's,  a  tavern  in  which  some  of  the  militia  officers 
were,  a  difference  arose  that  ended  with  some  rude 
ness.  Next  night,  the  watch  coming  again  to  the  same 
place,  and  thy  son  happening  to  be  in  company,  there  was 
something  of  a  fray,  which  ended  with  the  watch's  retir 
ing.  This,  with  all  the  persons  concerned  in  it,  was  taken 
notice  of  the  next  mayor's  court,  and  not  any  regard  had 
to  names.  The  indignity,  however,  put  upon  the  eldest 
son  of  the  founder  is  looked  upon  by  most  moderate  men 
to  be  very  base,  and  by  him  (the  Governor)  and  all  others 
not  quite  of  their  party  is  deeply  resented  as  a  thing  ex 
ceedingly  provoking."  .  .  .  "He  thought  himself  obliged 
no  longer  to  keep  to  any  measures  with  such  as,  making 
more  than  ordinary  pretences  to  religion,  could  so  little 
observe  any  rule  of  decency  with  him  or  gratitude  and 
respect  for  their  founder.  Notwithstanding  this,  he  stil] 
4i* 


486  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

expresses  such  a  tender  regard  to  his  father's  profession 
that  nothing  can  disturb  him  more  than  to  hear  it  un 
kindly  treated." 

In  another  letter  he  says :  "  Let  me  take  the  freedom 
to  request  thee  to  be  very  tender  to  him  in  thy  resent 
ment,  lest  those  he  has  already  conceived,  from  the  abuses 
put  upon  him,  should  by  any  addition  precipitate  him  into 
ruin." 

There  seems  reason  to  believe  that  some  of  those  in 
authority  suffered  their  opposition  to  the  proprietary's 
government  to  make  them  willing1  to  weaken  his  position 
by  making  his  son's  deficiencies  conspicuous. 

Isaac  Norris  writes  respecting  this  affair:  "William 
Penn,  Jr.,  is  quite  gone  off  from  Friends.  He  being  in 
company  with  some  extravagants  that  beat  the  watch  at 
Enoch  Story's  was  presented  with  them,  which  unman 
nerly  and  disrespectful  act  (as  he  takes  it)  gives  him  great 
disgust,  and  seems  a  waited  occasion.  He  talks  of  going 
home  in  the  Jersey  man-of-war  next  month.  I  wish  things 
had  been  better  or  he  had  never  come." 

Having  sold  his  manor  of  7000  acres  on  the  Schuylkill 
(now  Norristown)  for  £850,  he  left  the  country. 

William  Penu  writes  to  James  Logan : 

"  LONDON,  16th  of  Eleventh  month,  1704. 

"  A  melancholy  scene  enough  upon  my  poor  child. 
Pennsylvania  began  it  by  my  absence  here,  and  there  it 
is  accomplished,  with  expense,  disappointment,  ingrati 
tude,  and  poverty. 

"  The  Lord  uphold  me,  under  these  sharp  and  heavy 


OF     WILLIAM     P  E  X  X  .  487 

burdens  with  his  free  Spirit.  I  should  have  been  glad  of 
an  account  of  his  expenses  and  more  of  a  rent-roll,  if  I 
must  perish  with  gold  in  my  view  but  not  in  my  power. 
To  have  neither  supplies  nor  a  reason  of  credit  here  is 
certainly  a  cruel  circumstance.  I  want  to  know  what  I 
have  to  stand  upon  and  help  myself  with.  He  [his  son] 
is  my  greatest  affliction,  for  his  soul's  and  my  country's 
and  family's  sake.  .  .  . 

"  Nor  did  thou  send  me  word  what  my  son  sold  his 
manor  for ;  but  after  his  arrival  he  drew  a  bill  for  £10  to 
ride  two  hundred  miles  home,  and  which  he  performed  in 
two  days  and  a  night.  I  met  him  by  appointment  be 
tween  this  and  Worminghurst.  We  stayed  but  three 
hours  together.  See  how  much  more  easily  the  bad 
Friends'  treatment  of  him  stumbled  him  from  the  blessed 
truth,  than  those  he  acknowledges  to  be  good  ones  could 
prevail  to  keep  him  in  possession  of  it,  from  the  prevail 
ing  ground  in  himself  to  what  is  levity  more  than  what 
is  retired,  circumspect,  and  virtuous." 

James  Logan  writes  to  William  Penn : 

"  Tenth  month,  1704. 

"  The  return  of  thy  son  and  the  representation  that  he 
brings,  with  the  unhappy  effects  those  have  had  upon  him, 
accompanied,  at  the  same  time,  with  that  unparalleled  piece 
of  baseness  from  D.  L.,  will  soon  put  thee  (I  doubt  not) 
on  measures  for  thy  ease  from  such  an  accumulation  of 
troubles.  I  cannot  foresee  any  probability  of  being 
brought  into  regular  order  again  till  under  the  crown  ; 
and  it  seems  all  owing  to  those  unhappy  charters,  which, 


488  PASSAGES    FUOM    THE    LIFE 

being  designed  as  favors,  are  made  use  of  by  ill  men  as 
tools  for  mischief. 

"  It  seems  as  if  we  were  all  in  a  ferment,  and  whatever 
was  impure  among  the  whole  people  rose  in  its  filth  to 
the  top.  I  wish  we  may  ever  be  skimmed,  so  as  to  leave 
anything  pure  behind.  I  am  fully  convinced,  at  least, 
that  prudence  and  counsel  are  much  in  vain,  unless  they 
are  made  the  instruments  of  the  only  guiding  power  of 
all  human  things." 

James  Logan  had  before  written  to  William  Penn  : 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  14th  Fifth  month,  1704. 
..."  This  people  think  privileges  their  due,  and  all 
that  can  be  grasped  their  native  right ;  but  when  dis 
pensed  with  too  liberal  a  hand,  as  not  restraining  licen 
tiousness,  may  produce  their  greatest  unhappiness.  Char 
ters  here  are  in  danger  of  being  made  of  fatal  consequence, 
for  some  peoples'  brains  are  as  soon  intoxicated  with  power 
as  the  natives  are  with  their  beloved  liquor,  and  as  little 
to  be  trusted  with  it.  A  well-tempered  mixture  in  gov 
ernment  is  the  happiest,  the  greatest  liberty  and  property  ; 
and  commonwealth's  men,  invested  with  power,  have  been 
known  to  be  the  greatest  tyrants." 

Isaac  N orris  wrote  afterwards :  "  Things  in  Governor 
Evans'  time  ran  to  a  great  height  between  him  and  the 
assemb'y.  On  his  first  arrival,  and-  two  years  after,  a 
niggardly  and  untoward  temper  seemed  to  reign  in  the 
assembly  against  the  proprietor  and  him,  his  lieutenant, 
fomented  and  managed  by  the  arts  of  some  that  wera 


OP    WILLIAM    PEtfN.  489 

either  professed  or  secret  enemies  of  the  proprietor.  All 
bis  management  from  the  beginning  was  nicely  scanned, 
and  from  thence  [was]  raked  together  everything  that 
could  be  thought  of  as  a  material  for  remonstrances  and 
reproaches,  dressed  up  in  the  most  indecent  manner.  And 
this  was  made  a  pretence  to  give  nothing  towards  the  sup 
port  of  government,  but  starve  the  deputy." 

James  Logan  writes  to  William  Penn : 

"3d8br.,  1704. 

..."  David  Lloyd  being  recorder  of  the  city,  and 
likely,  in  all  probability,  to  be  speaker  of  the  next  as 
sembly,  from  his  temper  so  well  known,  there  seems  but 
little  good  to  be  anticipated.  The  generality,  however, 
are  honestly  and  well  inclined,  and  out  of  the  assembly 
are  very  good  men  ;  but  when  got  together,  I  know  not 
how,  they  are  infatuated  and  led  by  smooth  stories. 
David  himself  makes  as  great  a  profession  as  any  man, 
but  we  can  see  no  good  effects  from  it. 

"  The  part  thou  hast  hitherto  had  to  manage  in  the 
world  will  not  suffer  thee  with  any  honor  utterly  to  de 
sert  this  people ;  and,  on  the  other  side,  I  cannot  see  why 
thou  should  neglect  thy  own  interest  while  no  more  grat 
itude  is  shown  thee.  Were  one  man  from  among  us  we 
might,  perhaps,  be  happy ;  but  he  is  truly  a  promoter  of 
discord,  with  the  deepest  artifice  under  the  smoothest  lan 
guage  and  pretences.  I  cannot  but  pity  the  poor  misled 
people,  who  really  design  honestly,  but  know  not  whom 
to  trust  for  their  directors.  They  are  so  often  told  that 
things  want  to  be  mended  that  at  length  they  are  per 
suaded  it  is  the  case,  and  not  knowing  how  to  set  about 


490  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

it  themselves,  believe  that  those  who  can  discover  the 
disease  arc  the  most  capable  to  direct  the  proper  reme 
dies.  I  believe  in  the  whole  assembly  there  are  not  three 
men  that  wish  ill  to  thee,  and  yet  I  can  expect  but  little 
good  from  them. 

"I  have  never  been  under  a  greater  depression  of 
thought  than  for  these  few  months  past.  Thy  estates 
here  daily  sinking  by  the  country's  impoverishment,  with 
thy  exigencies  increasing,  suffer  me  not  to  know  what 
any  of  the  comforts  of  life  are." 

William  Penn  writes  to  James  Logan : 

-  1704. 

.  .  .  "As  difficult  as  my  circumstances  are,  and  as  mean 
a  prospect  as  thou  givest  me  of  any  supply,  yet  that  hardly 
troubles  me  equally  to  the  weakness  and  worse  (I  fear) 
of  some  of  our  folks  in  reference  to  your  government 
matters.  Will  they  never  be  wise  ?  These  assemblies, 
held  so  unwisely,  as  well  as  so  hazardously,  will,  in  the 
end,  subject  the  whole  to  laws  made  for  them  in  Parlia 
ment. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  have  such  a  prospect  of  charges — two 
houses  and  the  governor's  salary,  my  son's  voyage,  stay, 
and  return  ;  and  no  revenue  nor  Susquehanna  money  paid, 
on  which  account  I  ventured  my  poor  child  so  far  from 
his  wife  and  pretty  children,  and  my  own  oversight.  Oh, 
Pennsylvania,  what  hast  thou  not  cost  me  !  Above  £3*0,000 
more  than  I  ever  got  by  it,  two  hazardous  and  most 
fatiguing  voyages,  my  straits  and  slavery  here,  and  my 
child's  soul  almost ;  as  I  have  formerly  expressed  myself, 
but  I  must  be  short — I  shall  be  further  loaded,  instead  of 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  491 

his  coming  being-  instrumental  to.  relieve  me.  In  short, 
I  must  sell  all  or  be  undone,  and  disgraced  into  the 
bargain."  .  .  . 

William  Penn  writes  to  James  Logan : 

"  HYDE  PARK,  30th  Second  month,  1705. 

..."  I  can  hardly  be  brought  to  turn  my  back  en 
tirely  upon  a  place  the  Lord  so  specially  brought  to  my 
hand,  and  has  hitherto  preserved  against  the  proud  swell 
ings  of  many  waters,  both  there  and  here.  What  with 
the  load  of  unworthy  spirits  with  you  and  some  not  much 
better  here ;  with  my  poor  son's  going  into  the  army  or 
navy,  as  well  as  getting  into  Parliament,  through  so  many 
checks  and  tests  upon  his  morals  as  well  as  education ; 
with  the  load  of  debt,  hardly  to  be  answered  from  the 
difficulty  of  getting  in  what  I  have  a  right  to,  of  twice 
their  value,  which  is  starving  in  the  midst  of  bread,  my 
head  and  heart  are  filled  sufficiently  with  trouble ;  yet  the 
Lord  holds  up  my  head,  and  Job's  over-righteous  and 
mistaken  friends  have  not  sunk  my  soul  from  its  confi 
dence  in  God. 

:fc  *  ***** 

"  My  son  has  lost  his  election,  as  also  the  lord-keeper's 
son-in-law ;  but  both  hope  to  recover  it  by  proving  brib 
ery  upon  the  two  that  have  it,  Lord  Windsor  and  Squire 
Argell.  I  wish  it  might  turn  his  face  to  privacy  and  good 
husbandry,  if  not  nearer  to  us."  .  .  . 

This  unworthy  son  of  great  and  good  parents  after 
wards  left  his  wife  and  children  dependent  on  his  father 


492  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

and  lived  on  the  Continent.  He  died  in  France,  about  two 
years  after  his  father's  decease,  expressing  on  his  death 
bed,  it  is  said,  his  regret  for  the  "  wrongs  he  had  done." 

An  added  source  of  trial  to  William  Penn  was  the  in 
considerate  pressure  of  his  son-in-law,  Aubrey,  for  his 
wife's  portion.  James  Logan  calls  him  "  one  of  the 
keenest  men  living."  William  Penn,  in  one  of  his  letters 
to  James  Logan,  says,  "  My  son-in-law  Aubrey  grows  very 
troublesome  because  he  gets  nothing  thence — almost  an 
open  break,  did  I  not  bear  with  him  extremely ;  "  and 
again,  "  I  desire  thee  to  hasten  all  the  relief  thou  canst, 
both  to  me  and  my  son  Aubrey,  of  whom  I  would  be  clear 
of  all  men  ;  he  has  a  bitter  tongue,  and  I  wish  I  had  noth 
ing  to  do  with  him  in  money  matters." 

About  this  time  we  learn  that  he  visited  the  meetings 
of  Friends  in  the  west  of  England,  and  had  good  and 
effectual  service  in  the  ministry.  He  also  wrote  a  short 
epistle  addressed  to  his  own  Society. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIENDS  : — Hold  all  your  meetings  in  that 
which  set  them  up,  the  heavenly  power  of  God,  both  min 
isters  and  hearers,  and  live  under  it  and  not  above  it,  and 
the  Lord  will  give  you  dominion  over  that  which  seeks  to 
draw  you  again  into  captivity  to  the  spirit  of  this  world 
under  divers  appearances ;  that  the  truth  may  shine 
through  you  in  righteousness  and  holiness,  in  self-denial, 
long-suffering,  patience,  and  brotherly  kindness ;  so  shall 
you  approve  yourselves  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord,  and 
his  living  witnesses  to  an  evil  generation.  So  prays  your 
friend  and  brother  through  the  many  tribulations  :hat  lead 
to  the  kingdom  of  God.': 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  493 


XXVII. 

T71ROM  1705  to  1708,  while  oppressed  by  many  heavy 
J-  cares  and  anxieties  of  both  public  and  private  char 
acter,  William  Penn  had  the  unhappiness  to  be  involved 
in  law-suits  with  the  heirs  of  Philip  Ford,  who  had  been 
entrusted  with  the  management  of  his  estates  in  Ireland. 
Ford  was  a  member  of  his  own  religious  society,  whom  he 
had  treated  with  great  kindness,  and,  supposing  him  bound 
by  a  sense  of  gratitude,  had  imprudently  trusted  to  his  in 
tegrity  and  had  accepted  accounts  and  signed  papers  pre 
sented  to  him  without  sufficient  examination. 
William  Penn  writes  to  James  Logan : 

"28th  Tenth  month,  1705. 

"  I  offered  upon  the  adjusting  the  accounts,  (against 
which  I  have  great  and  equitable  exceptions,)  that  the 
half  should  be  then  presently  paid,  and  the  other  reason 
ably  secured ;  and  that,  as  I  desired  not  to  be  a  judge  in 
my  own  case,  I  did  propose  to  refer  it  to  Friends  of  their 
and  my  own  choosing.  Both  which  (after  three  years'  agi 
tation)  they  refused.  The  reason  why  they  will  not  refer 
their  case,  is  supposed  to  be  the  blackness  and  injustice 
of  the  account,  which  by  chancery  they  hope  to  stifle,  and 
have  the  oppressive  sum  allowed,  being  upon  security." 

A  minute  of  Devonshire  House  Meeting,  London,  de 
clares  its  disunity  with  the  widow  and  son  and  daughter 
of  Philip  Ford  for  having  refused  to  arbitrate  the  case 
42 


494  P  A  S  S  A  G  E  8     F  IK)  M     T  II  E     L  I  F  E 

according  to  the  "  Christian  principle  and  good  order " 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  leaves  William  Penn  "  at 
liberty  now  to  make  his  defence  in  law." 

James  Logan  writes  to  Thomas  Callowhill,  William 
Penn's  father-in-law : 

"13th  of  6th  mo.,  1706. 

"  I  fear  we  shall  be  engaged  in  great  perplexities,  by 
reason  of  that  most  unfortunate  business  of  Philip  Ford. 
Never  was  any  person  more  barbarously  treated  or  baited 
with  undeserved  enemies.  He  [William  Penn]  has  been 
able  to  foil  all  attacks  from  public  adversaries;  but  'tis 
his  fortune  to  meet  with  greatest  severities  from  those 
that  owe  most  to  him.  One  would  think  there  was  almost 
a  commission  granted,  as  against  Job,  for  his  trial ;  for 
such  an  accumulation  of  adversaries  has  seldom  been 
known  to  attack  a  person  that  so  little  deserved  them.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  something  of  it  all  is  owing  to  his 
easiness  and  want  of  caution. 

"  I  wish  some  of  those  that  are  acquainted  with  the 
more  effectual  way  of  transacting  such  concerns  would 
search  into  the  bottom  of  it ;  consider,  by  the  most  unbi 
assed  advice,  the  strength  of  his  antagonists,  and  endeavor 
to  fix  on  the  most  effectual  means  for  his  security ;  for, 
as  far  as  I  can  gather  from  the  accounts  which  I  have 
at  such  a  distance,  Philip  Ford's  designs  were  base  and 
barbarous  from  the  beginning. 

"  And  what  an  old,  cunning,  self-interested  man,  with 
such  intentions,  might  be  capable  of  doing,  when  he  had 
so  much  goodness,  open-heartedness,  and  confidence  in  hia 
honesty  to  deal  with,  is  not  difficult  to  imagine." 


OF    WILLIAM     PEXX.  495 

About  the  time  of  the  war  in  Ireland,  when  William  and 
James  were  contending  for  the  mastery  of  the  island, 
Ford  made,  or  professed  to  have  made,  considerable  ad 
vances  on  William  Penn's  account.  The  heavy  expenses 
which  the  latter  had  incurred  in  the  management  of  his 
province  had  embarrassed  his  circumstances,  so  that  in 
stead  of  paying-  these  advances,  he  mortgaged  his  property 
in  Pennsylvania,  as  security  for  the  debt.  But  Ford 
managed  to  procure  an  absolute  conveyance  of  the  prov 
ince,  and  gave  an  informal  defeasance  in  return.  During 
the  life  of  Ford  this  transaction  remained  a  secret,  but 
after  his  death,  his  executors  claimed  not  only  the  pro 
prietorship  but  the  government  of  the  province.  The 
latter  claim  was,  however,  abandoned,  as  it  was  not"  in 
cluded  in  the  conveyance.  William  Penn  insisted  that 
the  transaction  was  a  mortgage,  not  a  conveyance,  and 
instituted  a  suit  in  chancery  for  opening  and  liquidating 
Ford's  accounts,  whose  demand  amounted  to  about  twelve 
thousand  pounds  sterling.  He  considered  two-thirds  of 
this  charge  to  be  unjust,  being  made  up  by  computing  com 
pound  interest,  and  by  exorbitant  commissions.  The  chan 
cellor  seems  to  have  been  convinced  that  the  account  was 
not  fairly  stated,  but  the  settlements  which  had  been 
sanctioned  at  several  times  by  William  Penn  rendered  it 
improper  in  his  view  to  open  the  accounts.  While  this 
suit  was  pending  in  chancery,  the  representatives  of  Ford 
instituted  a  suit  in  the  King's  Bench  for  arrears  of  rent, 
upon  a  lease  of  the  province,  made  by  Philip  Ford  to  the 
proprietary,  and  obtained  a  verdict  for  three  thousand 
pounds.  Execution  was  issued,  and  an  officer  sent  to 
arrest  William  Penn  while  he  was  attending  a  public 


496  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     I,  I  F  E 

meeting  for  worship.  But  the  bailiff  permitted  him  to 
stay  the  meeting,  upon  the  assurance  of  Henry  Gouldney 
and  others  that  he  would  surrender  himself  when  it  was 
over.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  he  in  consequence 
was  obliged  to  live  for  nine  months  within  the  rules  of 
the  Fleet.  A  compromise  was  at  length  effected,  and  the 
sum  of  seven  thousand  pounds  accepted  in  lieu  of  tho 
sums  demanded.  The  money  was  chiefly  advanced  by  his 
friends,  and  a  mortgage  on  the  province  for  six  thousand 
six  hundred  pounds  was  given  as  security.  The  imposi 
tion  practised  by  this  unworthy  confidant  may  be  in 
part  computed  from  the  fact,  that  he  received  seventeen 
thousand  pounds  of  William  Penn's  money,  and  disbursed 
on  his  own  account  only  sixteen  thousand  pounds,  and 
yet  brought  his  employer  twelve  thousand  pounds  in  debt 
for  interest  and  services. 

After  this  painful  affair  was  adjusted,  he  again  travelled 
through  some  of  the  western  parts  of  England,  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  as  his  health  and  strength  would 
admit.  He  likewise  visited  the  counties  of  Berks,  Buck 
ingham,  Surrey,  and  other  places. 

About  this  time  we  find  the  first  notice  of  the  failure  of 
his  physical  powers.  The  numerous  perplexities  through 
which  he  had  recently  passed,  together  with  necessary 
decays  of  nature,  were  producing  their  visible  effects  on 
his  once  athletic  constitution.  The  air  in  the  vicinity  of 
London  was  found  unfavorable  to  his  declining  powers,  and 
he  removed  to  Rushcomb,  in  Buckinghamshire,  where  he 
resided  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

The  following  letter  from  William  Penn  to  Friends  in 
Pennsylvania  was  written  while  imprisoned  at  the  Fleet. 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  497 

"  LONDON,  28th  Seventh  month,  1708. 

"  DEAR  FRIENDS  AND  BRETHREN. — My  ancient  love,  if 
you  can  believe  it,  reaches  to  .you  as  in  times  past  and 
years  that  are  gone  ;  even  in  the  Divine  root  and  principle 
of  love  and  life  that  made  us  near  to  one  another,  above 
all  worldly  considerations ;  where  our  life,  I  hope,  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God,  our  Father;  so  that  when  He  appears 
we  shall  also  appear  with  Him  in  glory  ;  and  in  the  mean 
time  through  us,  to  those  that  love  and  wait  for  his 
appearance,  as  the  desire  of  nations,  that  we  may  glorify 
God,  his,  and  our  everlasting  Father,  in  our  bodies,  souls, 
and  spirits,  in  temporal  and  eternal  affairs.  .  .  . 

"  Oh,  my  dear  friends,  let  all  below  this  keep  on  the 
left  hand  ;  and  wait  to  feel  those  blessed  things,  to  inherit 
the  right  hand ;  and  in  faith  and  courage  cry  aloud  to  the 
Lord,  for  his  renewing  and  refreshing  power,  that  may 
revive  and  reform  his  work  upon  your  hearts  and  minds ; 
and  our  humility,  meekness,  patience,  self-denial,  and 
charity,  with  a  blameless  walking,  may  appear  and  mani 
fest  the  work  of  God  upon  our  hearts,  to  those  that  are 
without ;  which  is  not  only  the  way  to  bring  up  the 
loiterers,  and  gather  in  the  careless  ones  to  their  duty, 
but  fetch  home  and  bring  in  the  strangers  and  the  very 
enemies  of  the  blessed  Truth,  to  confess  and  acknowledge 
that  God  is  in  you  and  for  you  of  a  truth. 

"  I  earnestly  beseech  you  to  assist  James  Logan,  and 
who  else  the  trustees  for  the  payment  of  the  money  here 
advanced  shall  nominate,  not  only  to  get  in,  but  turn  into 
money,  the  best  you  are  able,  that  I  may  come  honora 
bly  to  you  and  speedily,  which  I  hope  to  do,  as  soon  as 
you  and  these  Friends  here  think  fit.  Let  me  have  this 
42*  2G 


498  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

pledge  of  your  love,  and  it  shall  be  a  lasting  one,  to  ad 
vise  and  assist  you  for  the  expediting  of  the  matter,  for 
be  assured  I  long  to  be  with  you ;  and  if  the  Lord  bring 
me  and  mine  there,  I  hope  not  to  return  on  almost  any 
terms,  at  least  not  without  your  advice  and  satisfaction  ; 
for  care  of  you,  and  settling  plantations  for  my  poor 
minors  ;  for  planters,  God  willing,  they  shall  be  in  their 
father's  country,  rather  than  great  merchants  in  their 
native  land ;  and  to  visit  Friends  throughout  the  contU 
nent,  at  least,  their  chiefest  business. 

"  In  the  first  love  I  leave  you  and  yours,  and  all  the 
Lord's  people  amongst  you  ;  my  family  and  affairs,  to  the 
merciful  providence  and  orderings  of  our  great  and  gracious 
God,  that  welcomed  us  in  poor  America  with  his  excellent 
love  and  presence,  and  will,  I  hope,  once  more  ;  and  re 
main  your  loving  friend,  WILLIAM  PENN." 

The  administration  of  Governor  Evans  was  an  unhappy 
one.  From  a  number  of  his  actions  which  are  recorded, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  proprietary  was  misin 
formed  of  his  character,  or  that  his  character  underwent 
an  unfavorable  change  after  his  appointment.  There  is 
also  reason  to  believe  that  the  influx  of  emigrants,  of  a 
class  less  moral  and  religious  than  those  who  accompanied 
William  Penn  in  1682,  had  somewhat  deteriorated  the 
general  tone  of  morals  in  the  province. 

After  a  turbulent  administration  of  about  five  years, 
Governor  Evans  was  removed  and  Charles  Gookin  ap 
pointed  in  his  place. 

Governor  Gookin  was  a  man  of  years  and  experience, 
from  whose  temper  and  abilities  considerable  hopes  were 


OF     WILLIAM     PENN.  499 

entertained  of  a  satisfactory  and  harmonious  administra 
tion.  He  arrived  at  Philadelphia  on  the  first  of  First  month, 
1709,  when  the  assembly  for  the  province  was  in  session. 

Dissensions  soon  arose  between  the  Governor  and  the 
assembly,  which  greatly  impeded  the  public  business,  and 
were  the  source  of  much  painful  anxiety  to  William  Penn. 
James  Logan,  secretary  of  the  province,  the  firm  and 
faithful  friend  of  the  proprietary,  became  an  object  of 
manifest  aversion  to  the  assembly.  They  even  issued  a 
warrant  signed  by  the  speaker,  for  apprehending  and 
committing  him  to  jail,  when  on  the  eve  of  embarking 
for  England,  but  a  supersedeas  from  the  Governor  pre 
vented  its  execution.  He  prosecuted  his  voyage,  and 
proved  the  integrity  of  his  conduct  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  proprietor,  his  own  religious  society,  and  the  civil 
authorities. 

A  letter  of  Isaac  Norris,  written  soon  after,  says : 

"  Most  of  these  sticklers  in  assembly  are  either  Keitheans, 
or  such  as  stand  loose  from  Friends,  who  have  other  ends 
than  what  is  penetrated  into  by  some  pretty  honest,  but 
not  knowing  men." 

Three  years  before  this,  James  Logan  had  written  to 
William  Penn  :  "It  is  the  very  leaven  of  George  Keith 
left  among  the  people  at  his  separation,  and  now  ferment 
ing  up  again ;  and  these  proceedings  are  contrary  to  the 
minds' of  honest  Friends." 

The  despatches  which  reached  William  Penn  through 
the  instrumentality  of  James  Logan,  or  through  other 
channels,  gave  him  full  knowledge  of  the  turbulent  spirit 
which  distracted  the  province.  He  addressed  to  the 
assembly  the  following  energetic  expostulation  : 


500  PASSAGES    FROM    THE     LIFE 

"LONDON,  29th  Fourth  month,  1710. 

"  MY  OLD  FRIENDS  : — It  is  a  mournful  consideration, 
and  the  cause  of  deep  affliction  to  me,  that  I  am  forced, 
by  the  oppressions  and  disappointments  which  have  fallen 
to  my  share  in  this  life,  to  speak  to  the  people  of  that 
province  in  a  language  I  once  hoped  I  should  never  have 
occasion  to  use.  But  the  many  troubles  and  oppositions 
I  have  met  with  from  thence,  oblige  me,  in  plainness  and 
freedom,  to  expostulate  with  you  concerning  the  causes 
of  them. 

"  When  it  pleased  God  to  open  a  way  for  me  to  settle 
that  colony,  I  had  reason  to  expect  a  solid  comfort  from 
the  services  done  to  many  hundreds  of  people ;  and  it  is 
no  small  satisfaction  to  me  that  I  have  not  been  disap 
pointed  in  seeing  them  prosper,  and  growing  up  to  a 
flourishing  country,  blessed  with  liberty,  ease,  and  plenty, 
beyond  what  many  of  themselves  could  expect ;  and  want 
ing  nothing  to  make  them  happy,  but  what,  with  a  right 
temper  of  mind  and  prudent  conduct,  they  might  give 
themselves.  But,  alas  !  as  to  my  part,  instead  of  reaping 
the  like  advantages,  some  of  the  greatest  of  my  troubles 
have  arisen  from  thence ;  the  many  combats  I  have  en 
gaged  in ;  the  great  pains  and  incredible  expense,  for 
your  welfare  and  ease,  to  the  decay  of  my  former  estate ; 
of  which  (however  some  there  would  represent  it)  I  too 
sensibly  feel  the  effects ;  with  the  undeserved  opposition 
I  have  met  with  from  thence,  sink  me  into  sorrow ;  that, 
if  not  supported  by  a  superior  hand,  might  have  over 
whelmed  me  long  ago.  And  I  cannot  but  think  it  hard 
measure,,  that  while  that  has  proved  a  land  of  freedom 
and  flourishing,  it  should  become  to  me,  by  whose  means 


OF     \V  II,  LI  AM     PKXX.  501 

it  was  principally  made  a  country,  the  cause  of  grief, 
trouble,  and  poverty. 

"For  this  reason  I  must  desire  you  all,  even  of  all  pro 
fessions  and  degrees,  for  although  all  have  not  been  en 
gaged  in  the  measures  that  have  been  taken,  yet  every 
man  who  has  an  interest  there  is,  or  must  be,  concerned 
in  them  by  their  effects.  I  must,  therefore,  I  say,  desire 
you  all,  in  a  serious  and  true  wcightiness  of  mind,  to  con 
sider  what  you  are  or  have  been  doing.  Why  matters 
must  be  carried  on  with  these  divisions  and  contentions, 
and  what  real  causes  have  been  given,  on  my  side,  for 
that  opposition  to  me  and  my  mterest  which  I  have  met 
with,  as  if  I  were  an  enemy  and  not  a  friend,  after  all  I 
have  done  arid  spent,,  both  here  and  there.  I  am  sure,  I 
know  not  of  any  cause  whatsoever.  Were  I  sensible  you 
really  wanted  anything  of  me  in  the  relation  between  us, 
that  would  make  you  happier,  I  should  readily  grant  it,  if 
any  reasonable  man  would  say  it  were  fit  for  you  to  de 
mand,  provided  you  would  also  take  such  measures  as 
were  fit  for  me  to  join  with. 

"  Before  any  one  family  had  transported  themselves 
thither,  I  earnestly  endeavored  to  form  such  a  model  of 
government  as  might  make  all  concerned  in  it  easy,  which 
nevertheless  was  subject  to  be  altered,  as  there  should  be 
occasion.  Soon  after  we  got  over,  that  model  appeared, 
in  some  parts  of  it,  to  be  very  inconvenient,  if  not  im 
practicable.  The  number  of  members,  both  in  the  council 
and  assembly,  was  much  too  large.  Some  other  matters 
also  proved  inconsistent  with  the  king's  charter  to  me,  so 
that,  according  to  the  power  reserved  for  an  alteration, 
there  was  a  necessity  to  make  one,  in  which,  if  the  lower 


502  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

counties  were  brought  in,  it  was  well  known,  at  that 
time,  to  be  on  a  view  of  advantage  to  the  province  itself, 
as  well  as  to  the  people  of  those  counties,  and  to  the  gen 
eral  satisfaction  of  those  concerned,  without  the  least 
apprehension  of  any  irregularity  in  the  method. 

"Upon  this  they  had  another  charter  passed,  nemine 
contradicente ;  which  I  always  desired  might  be  con 
tinued,  while  you  yourselves  would  keep  up  to  it,  and  put 
it  in  practice  ;  and  many  there  know  how  much  it  was 
against  my  will  that,  upon  my  last  going  over,  it  was 
vacated.  But  after  this  was  laid  aside  (which  indeed 
was  begun  by  yourselves,  in  Colonel  Fletcher's  time),  I, 
according  to  my  engagement,  left  another,  with  all  the 
privileges  that  were  found  convenient  for  your  good  gov 
ernment  ;  and  if  any  part  of  it  has  been,  in  any  case, 
infringed,  it  was  never  by  my  approbation.  I  desired  it 
might  be  enjoyed  fully.  But  though  privileges  ought  to 
be  tenderly  preserved,  they  should  not,  on  the  other  hand, 
be  asserted  under  that  name  to  a  licentiousness.  The 
design  of  government  is  to  preserve  good  order,  which 
may  be  equally  broken  in  upon  by  the  turbulent  endeav 
ors  of  the  people,  as  well  as  the  overstraining  of  power  in 
a  governor.  I  designed  the  people  should  be  secured  of 
an  annual  fixed  election  and  assembly,  and  that  they 
should  have  the  same  privileges  in  it  that  any  other  as 
sembly  has  in  the  Queen's  dominions.  Among  all  which 
this  is  one  constant  rule,  as  in  the  Parliament  here,  that 
they  should  sit  on  their  own  adjournments ;  but  to  strain 
this  expression  to  a  power,  to  meet  at  all  times  during  the 
year  without  the  Governor's  concurrence,  would  be  to  dis 
tort  government,  to  break  the  due  proportion  of  the  parts 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  503 

of  it,  to  establish  con  fusion 'in  the  place  of  necessary  order, 
and  make  the  legislative  the  executive  part  of  government. 
Yet,  for  obtaining  this  power,  I  perceive  much  time  and- 
inoney  have  been  spent,  and  great  struggles  have  been 
made,  not  only  for  this,  but  some  other  things  that  cannot 
at  all  be  for  the  advantage  of  the  people  to  be  possessed 
of,  particularly  the  appointing  of  judges,  because  the 
administration  might,  by  such  means,  be  so  clogged,  that 
it  would  be  difficult,  if  possible,  under  our  circumstances, 
at  some  times,  to  support  it.  As  for  my  own  part,  as  I 
desire  nothing  more  than  the  tranquillity  and  prosperity 
of  the  province  and  government  in  all  its  branches,  could  I 
see  that  any  of  these  things  that  have  been  contended  for, 
would  certainly  promote  these  ends,  it  wrould  be  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  me  how  they  were  settled.  But  seeing 
the  frame  of  every  government  ought  to  be  regular  in  it 
self,  well-proportioned  and  subordinate  in  its  parts,  and 
every  branch  of  it  invested  with  sufficient  power  to  dis 
charge  its  respective  duty  for  the  support  of  the  whole,  I 
have  cause  to  believe  that  nothing  could  be  more  destruc 
tive  to  it  than  to  take  so  much  of  the  provision  and  execu 
tive  part  of  the  government  out  of  the  Governor's  hands 
and  lodge  it  in  an  uncertain  collective  body,  and  more 
especially  since  our  government  is  dependent,  and  I  am 
answerable  to  the  crown,  if  the  administration  should  fail 
and  a  stop  be  put  to  the  course  of  justice.  On  these  con 
siderations  I  cannot  think  it  prudent  in  the  people  to 
crave  these  powers,  because  not  only  I,  but  they  them 
selves,  would  be  in  danger  of  suffering  by  it.  Could  I 
believe  otherwise,  I  should  not  be  against  granting  any 
thing  of  this  kind  that  were  asked  of  me  with  any  degree 


504  PASSAGES     FROM     THE     LIFE 

of  common  prudence  and  civility.  But,  instead  of  find 
ing  cause  to  believe  that  the  contentions  which  have  been 
raised  about  these  matters,  have  proceeded  only  from  mis 
takes  of  judgment,  with  an  earnest  desire,  notwithstand 
ing,  at  the  bottom,  to  serve  the  public  (which,  I  hope,  has 
still  been  the  inducement  of  several  concerned  in  them),  I 
have  had  but  too  sorrowful  a  view  and  sight  to  complain 
of  the  manner  in  which  I  have  been  treated.  The  attacks 
on  my  reputation,  the  many  indignities  put  upon  me,  in 
papers  sent  over  hither,  into  the  hands  of  those  who  could 
not  be  expected  to  make  the  most  discreet  and  charitable 
use  of  them ;  the  secret  insinuations  against  my  justice, 
besides  the  attempt  made  upon  my  estate ;  resolves  past 
in  the  assemblies  for  turning  my  quit-rents,  never  sold  by 
me,  to  the  support  of  government ;  my  lands  entered  upon 
without  any  regular  method ;  my  manors  invaded  (under 
pretence  I  had  not  duly  surveyed  them),  and  both  these 
by  persons  principally  concerned  in  these  attempts  against 
me  here ;  a  right  to  my  overplus  land  unjustly  claimed  by 
the  possessors  of  the  tracts  in  which  they  are  found ;  my 
private  estate  continually  exhausting  for  the  support  of 
that  government,  both  here  and  there,  and  no  provision 
made  for  it  by  that  country,  to  all  which  I  cannot  but 
add,  the  violence  that  has  been  particularly  shown  to  my 
secretary,  of  which  (though  I  shall  by  no  means  protect 
him  in  anything  he  can  be  justly  charged  with,  but  suffer 
him  to  stand  or  fall  by' his  own  actions)  I  cannot  but  thus 
far  take  notice,  that  from  all  the  charges  I  have  seen  or 
heard  of  against  him,  I  have  cause  to  believe  that  had  he 
been  as  much  in  opposition  to  me  as  he  has  been  under 
stood  to  stand  for  me,  he  might  have  met  with  a  milder 


OF     WILLIAM     PENX.  505 

treatment  from  his  prosecutors ;  and  to  think  that  any 
man  should  be  the  more  exposed  there  on  my  account,  and 
instead  of  finding  favor,  meet  with  enmity  for  his  being 
engaged  in  my  service,  is  a  melancholy  consideration  ! 
In  short,  when  I  reflect  on  all  these  heads,  of  which  I 
have  so  much  cause  to  complain,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
think  of  the  hardships  I  and  my  suffering  family  have 
been  reduced  to,  in  no  small  measure  owing  to  my  en 
deavors  for,  and  disappointments  from,  that  province,  I 
cannot  but  mourn  the  unhappiness  of  my  portion,  dealt  to 
me  from  those  of  whom  I  had  reason  to  expect  much 
better  and  different  things  ;  nor  can  I  but  lament  the  un 
happiness  that  too  many  of  them  are  bringing  on  them 
selves,  who,  instead  of  pursuing  the  amicable  ways  of 
peace,  love,  and  unity  which  I  at  first  hoped  to  find  in 
that  retirement,  are  cherishing  a  spirit  of  contention  and 
opposition  ;  and,  blind  to  their  own  "interest,  are  overset 
ting  that  foundation  on  which  your  happiness  might  be 
built. 

"  Friends,  the  eyes  of  many  arc  upon  you  ;  the  people 
of  many  nations  of  Europe  look  on  that  country  as  a  land 
of  ease  and  quiet,  wishing  to  themselves  in  vain  the  same 
blessings  which  they  conceive  you  enjoy ;  but  to  see  the 
use  you  make  of  them  is  no  less  the  cause  of  surprise  to 
others,  while  such  bitter  complaints  and  reflections  are 
seen  to  come  from  you,  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
even  the  sense  or  meaning.  Where  are  the  distresses, 
grievances,  and  oppressions  that  the  papers  sent  from 
thence  so  often  say  you  languish  under,  while  others 
have  cause  to  believe  you  have  hitherto  lived,  or  might 
live,  the  happiest  of  any  in  the  queen's  dominions? 
43 


506  PASSAGES    FROM    THE    LIFE 

"Is  it  such  a  grievous  oppression  that  the  courts  are 
established  by  my  power,  founded  on  the  king's  charter, 
without  a  law  of  your  making,  when  upon  the  same  plan 
you  propose?  If  this  disturb  any,  take  the  advice  of 
other  able  lawyers  on  the  main,  without  tying  me  up  to 
the  opinion  of  principally  one  man,  whom  I  cannot  think 
so  very  proper  to  direct  in  my  affairs  (for  I  believe  the 
late  assembly  have  had  but  that  one  lawyer  amongst 
them),  and  I  am  freely  content  you  should  have  any  law 
that,  by  proper  judges,  should  be  found  suitable.  Is  it 
your  oppression  that  the  officers'  fees  are  not  settled  by  an 
act  of  assembly  ?  No  man  can  be  a  greater  enemy  to  ex 
tortion  than  myself;  do,  therefore,  allow  such  fees  as  may 
reasonably  encourage  fit  persons  to  undertake  these  offices, 
and  you  shall  soon  have  (and  should  have  always  cheer 
fully  had)  mine,  and  I  hope  my  lieutenant's  concurrence 
and  approbation.  Is  it  such  an  oppression  that  licenses 
for  public  houses  have  not  been  settled,  as  has  been  pro 
posed?  It  is  a  certain  sign  you  are  strangers  to  oppres 
sion,  and  know  nothing  but  the  name,  when  you  so  highly 
bestow  it  on  matters  so  inconsiderable  ;  but  that  business, 
I  find,  is  adjusted.  Could  I  know  any  real  oppression  you 
lie  under,  that  is  in  my  power  to  remedy  (and  what  I 
wish  you  would  take  proper  measures  to  remedy,  if  you 
truly  feel  any  such)  I  would  be  as  ready,  on  my  part,  to 
remove  them  as  you  to  desire  it ;  but  according  to  the  best 
judgment  I  can  make  of  the  complaints  I  have  seen  (and 
you  once  thought  I  had  a  pretty  good  one),  I  must,  in  a 
deep  sense  of  sorrow,  say  that  I  fear  the  kind  hand  of 
Providence,  that  has  so  long  favored  and  protected  you, 
will,  by  the  ingratitude  of  many  there  to  the  great  mercies 


OF     WILLIAM     PEN.X.  507 

of  God  hitherto  shown  them,  be  at  length  provoked  to 
convince  them  of  their  unworthiness  ;  and,  by  changing 
into  calamities  the  blessings  that  so  little  care  has  been 
taken  by  the  public  to  deserve,  reduce  those  who  have 
been  so  clamorous  and  causelessly  discontented,  to  a  true 
but  smarting  sense  of  their  duty.  I  write  not  this  with 
a  design  to  include  all.  I  doubt  not  many  of  you  have 
been  burdened  at,  and  can  by  no  means  join  in,  the  meas 
ures  that  have  been  taken  ;  but  while  such  things  appear 
under  the  name  of  an  assembly  that  ought  to  represent 
the  whole,  I  cannot  but  speak  more  generally  than  I 
would  desire,  though  I  am  not  insensible  what  methods 
may  be  used  to  obtain  the  weight  of  such  a  name. 

"  I  have  already  been  tedious,  and  shall  now,  therefore, 
briefly  say  that  the  opposition  I  have  met  with  from 
thence  must,  at  length,  force  me  to  consider  more  closely 
of  my  own  private  and  sinking  circumstances  in  relation 
to  that  province.  In  the  meantime,  I  desire  you  all 
seriously  to  weigh  what  I  have  written,  together  with 
your  duty  to  yourselves,  to  me,  and  to  the  world,  who 
have  their  eyes  upon  you,  and  are  witnesses  of  my  early 
and  earnest  care  for  you.  I  must  think  there4  is  a  regard 
due  to  me  that  has  not  of  late  been  paid.  Pray,  consider 
of  it  fully,  and  think,  soberly  what  you  have  to  desire  of 
me  on  the  one  hand,  and  ought  to  perform  to  me  on  the 
other,  for  from  the  next  assembly  I  shall  expect  to  know 
what  you  resolve,  and  what  I  may  depend  on.  If  I  must 
continue  my  regards  to  you,  let  me  be  engaged  to  it  by  a 
like  disposition  in  you  towards  me.  But  if  a  plurality 
after  this  shall  think  they  owe  me  none,  or  no  more  than 
for  some  years  1  have  met  with,  let  it,  on  a  fair  election, 


508  PASSAGES     Fl!OM     THE     LIFE 

be  so  declared,  and  I  shall  then,  without  fuither  suspense, 
know  what  I  have  to  rely  upon.  God  give  you  his  wis 
dom  and  fear  to  direct  you,  that  yet  our  poor  country 
may  be  blessed  with  peace,  love,  and  industry,  and  we  may 
once  more  meet  good  friends,  and  live  so  to  the  end  ;  our 
relation,  in  the  truth,  having  but  the  same  true  interest. 

"  I  am,  with  great  truth  and  most  sincere  regard,  your 
real  friend,  as  well  as  just  proprietor  and  governor, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

At  the  election  an  entirely  new  set  of  members  was 
returned  to  the  assembly,  and  a  degree  of  harmony  be 
tween  them  and  the  Governor,  which  had  been  unknown 
for  several  years,  marked  the  progress  of  the  session,  and 
this  state  of  things  continued  with  little  interruption  dur 
ing  the  short  time  in  which  William  Penn  was  capable  of 
taking  an  active  part  in  these  concerns. 

In  the  year  1712,  William  Penn  agreed  with  the  minis 
ters  of  the  crown  upon  a  sale  of  his  interest  in  the  prov 
ince  and  territories,  to  which  he  had  devoted  so  large  a 
part  of  his  laborious  life.  His  pecuniary  difficulties  and 
the  impossibility  of  giving  his  personal  attention  to  their 
concerns,  wrere  probably  the  moving  causes  of  this  measure. 
He  announced  the  sale  to  his  friends  as  follows: 

"For  my  dear  Friends,  S.  Carpenter,  Ed.  Shippen,  Rich. 
Hill,  I.  Norris,  C.  Pusey,  S.  Preston,  T.  Story,  Gr. 
Owen,  etc.,  at  Philadelphia,  in  Pennsylvania. 

"RUSCOMBE,  BERKS,  24th  of  Fifth  month,  1712. 
"DEAR   AND  WORTHY   FRIENDS: — Having   so    fair  an 
opportunity,  and  having  heard  from  you  by  the  bearer, 


OF     W  I  L  L  I  A  M     P  i:  X  X  .  509 

John  French,  I  choose  by  him  to  salute  you  and  yours, 
and  all  unnamed  Friends  that  you  think  worthy,  for  my 
heart  loves  such,  and  heartily  salutes  them  and  theirs,  and 
prays  for  your  preservation  in  the  Lord's  everlasting 
truth  to  the  end  of  time ;  and  the  way  of  it  is,  to  take 
the  Lord  along  with  you  in  all  your  enterprises,  to  give 
you  right  sight,  true  counsel,  and  a  just  temper  of  modera 
tion  in  all  things,  you  knowing  right  well  the  Lord  our 
God  is  near  at  hand.  Now  know,  that  though  I  have  not 
actually  sold  my  government  to  our  truly  good  queen,  yet 
her  able  lord  treasurer  and  I  have  agreed  it. 

"  I  have  taken  effectual  care  that  all  the  laws  and  priv 
ileges  I  have  granted  to  you  shall  be  observed  by  the 
queen's  governors,  etc.,  and  that  we  who  are  Friends 
shall  be  in  a  more  particular  manner  regarded  and  treated 
by  the  queen.  So  that  you  will  not,  I  hope  and  believe, 
have  a  less  interest  in  the  government,  being  humble  and 
discreet  in  our  conduct. 

"  I  purpose  to  see  you,  if  God  give,  me  life,  this  fall,  but 
I  grow  old  and  infirm,  yet  would  gladly  see  you  once 
more  before  I  die,  and  my  young  sons  and  daughter  also 
settled  upon  good  tracts  of  land,  for  them  and  theirs  after 
them,  to  clear  and  settle  upon,  as  Jacob's  sons  did".  I  close 
when  I  tell  you  that  I  desire  fervent  prayers  to  the  Lord 
for  continuing  my  life,  that  I  may  see  Pennsylvania  once 
more  before  I  die,  and  that  I  am  your  faithful,  loving  friend, 

WILLIAM  PENN." 

The  sum  to  be  paid  was  twelve  thousand  pounds,  one 
thousand  of  which  were  actually  paid.     But  before  the 
documents  for  making  a  legal  transfer  were  completed,  he 
43* 


510  PASSAGES     FKOM     THE     LIFE 

was  attacked  with  a  disease  of  an  apoplectic  character, 
which  left  him  with  a  memory  so  far  impaired  that  he 
was  judged  incompetent  to  their  execution. 

The  account  which  we  have  of  William  Penn  from  this 
time,  though  authentic,  is  very  short.  Two  years  after 
wards,  his  old  friend,  Thomas  Story,  arrived  in  England, 
and  went  to  Ruscomb  to  see  him.  He  says,  "  His  memory 
was  almost  quite  lost,  and  the  use  of  his  understanding  sus 
pended,  so  that  he  was  not  so  conversable  as  formerly,  and 
yet  as  near  the  Truth,  in  the  love  of  it,  as  before,  wherein 
appeared  the  great  mercy  and  favor  of  God,  if  it  be  consid 
ered  how  little  time  of  rest  he  ever  had  from  the  impor 
tunities  of  the  affairs  of  others,  to  the  great  hurt  of  his 
own  and  suspension  of  all  his  enjoyments  till  this  hap 
pened  to  him,  by  which  he  was  rendered  incapable  of  all 
business,  arid  yet  sensible  of  the  enjoyment  of  Truth  as 
at  any  time  in  all  his  life.  When  I  perceived  the  great 
defect  of  his  expressions  for  want  of  memory,  it  greatly 
bowed  my  spirit  under  a  consideration  of  the  uncertainty 
of  all  human  qualifications,  and  what  the  finest  of  men  are 
soon  reduced  to  by  a  disorder  of  the  organs  of  that  body 
with  which  the  soul  is  connected  and  acts  during  this 
present  mode  of  being.  His  mind  was  in  an  innocent 
state,  as  appeared  by  his  very  loving  deportment  to  all 
that  came  near  him,  and  we  were  greatly  comforted  by 
some  very  clear  sentences  he  spoke  in  the  life  and  power 
of  Truth  in  an  evening  meeting  we  had  together  ;  so 
that  I  was  ready  to  think  this  was  a  sort  of  sequestra 
tion  of  him  from  all  the  concerns  of  this  life  which  so  much 
oppressed  him,  not  in  judgment,  but  in  mercy,  that  he 
might  have  rest,  and  not  be  oppressed  thereby  to  the  end." 


OF     WILLIAM     PEXX.  511 

In  reviewing;  his  life,  the  disappointments  that  attended 
it  fade  out  of  sight,  and  we  feel  assured  that  the  equal 
Judge  of  all  has  placed  the  seal  of  enduring  influence  upon 
the  institutions  he  established,  the  views  of  equal  right 
and  justice  he  advocated,  and  the  declarations  of  eternal 
truth  he  recorded  in  conformity  to  his  will. 

By  the  inward  retirement  of  soul  and  withdrawal  of 
mind  from  outward  and  earthly  influences  which  he  so 
often  called  others  to  know  and  enjoy  for  themselves,  he 
had  known  his  spiritual  strength  to  be  renewed,  his  heart 
enlarged,  his  mental  vision  quickened  and  extended,  and 
his  judgment  calmed  and  balanced  as  in  the  Divine 
presence ;  and  his  spirit  had  been  raised  above  the  influ 
ence  of  human  institutions,  customs,  maxims,  and  creeds, 
and  from  that  height  a  sight  had  been  given  him  of  eter 
nal  truth  and  right,  and  of  God's  own  gracious  ways. 
And  now,  in  the  failure  of  mind  and  body,  this  blessed 
communion  which  he  had  been  drawn  into  the  enjoyment 
of  in  his  ver}r  early  years,  which  had  been  his  stay  and 
rest  throughout  his  active  and  troubled  life,  was  accorded 
to  him  in  bountiful  measure.  His  peace  was  made  to  flow 
as  a  river  which  finds  the  last  of  its  course  through  quiet 
meadows. 

His  wife  writes  to  James  Logan  the  last  of  the  year 
1713  :  "  He  was  at  Reading  Meeting  last  First-day,  as  also 
two  or  three  times  before,  and  bore  it  very  comfortably, 
and  expressed  his  refreshment  and  satisfaction  in  being 
there,  as  he  frequently  does  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
Lord's  goodness  to  him  in  his  private  retirements.  He 
frequently  expresses  his  loving  concerns  for  that  country's 
good,  and  sends  his  love  in  a  general  manner  to  all  its 


512  THE     LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PEXX. 

well-wishers.'1  And  about  a  year  afterwards:  "  When  1 
keep  the  thoughts  of  business  from  him  he  is  very  sweet, 
comfortable,  and  easy,  and  is  cheerfully  resigned  to  the 
Lord's  will,  and  yet  takes  delight  in  his  children,  his 
friends,  and  domestic  comforts,  as  formerly.  It  is  the 
public  and  his  family  who  feel  the  loss,  and  myself  the 
trouble  of  his  (I  may  say)  translation." 

Clouds  lay  upon  his  understanding,  but  the  sun  shone 
on  his  eternal  prospects,  and  the  long  evening  sky  was 
clear  and  full  of  light.  The  first  historian  of  his  life  says  : 
"After  a  continued  and  gradual  declension  for  about  six 
years  his  body  now  drew  near  to  its  dissolution,  and  on 
the  thirtieth  day  of  the  Fifth  month,  1118,  between  two 
and  three  in  the  morning,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  his 
age,  his  soul,  prepared  for  a  more  glorious  habitation,  for 
sook  the  decayed  tabernacle,  which  was  committed  to  the 
earth  on  the  fifth  of  the  Sixth  month  following  at  Jordans, 
in  Buckinghamshire,  where  his  former  wife  and  several  of 
his  family  had  been  interred.  And  as  he  had  led  in  this 
life  a  course  of  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  and 
through  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  been  enabled 
to  overcome  the  world,  he  is,  we  doubt  not,  admitted  to 
that  everlasting  inheritance  which  God  hath  prepared  for 
his  people,  and  made  partaker  of  the  promise  of  Christ. 
'  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in 
my  throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  down 
with  my  Father  in  his  throne.' " 


THE  END. 


117734 


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